Shall We Meet Again
by Crazy For Bakura
Summary: A poor, torn heart is breaking again, hidden beneath a cheerful smile of pretend. The man she loves has changed completely, can she still love him now? MalikxSerenity. Complete.
1. When Eyes Lie

Hullo! Welcome all to my newest fic! Why, you may ask, am I writing another when I hardly ever update my others and have screaming hordes of readers standing outside my window trying to kill me? The answer is simple: Because I can. That is the ultimate power of an author. To write how ever many stories, novels, fics, et cetera, that you want and no one can tell you not to or how to. It is simplicity at its best. Also, inspiration struck me in the butt around two o' clock this afternoon and I have to write this or else, in a week it'll be gone entirely. Now, as Egyptian Myths is, this is dedicated to LadyBloodShedRed for she is the one who gave me the idea for the pairing in this fic. It will be obvious, yes, but for the main character, an undermined one, I must say, it will be tough going. As the cliché goes, you never know how much you love something until it's gone. This saying has proven itself over and over again. But what will happen should that lost something return and is not the same thing as you once loved? Would YOU hold on or move on? Thus is the main conflict. God, I feel like I'm writing an essay or something. Most of you are just skipping this anyways, so I'll get to the point. K.I.S.S. is not in my vocabulary, so…here it goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I do wish that Kazuki Takahashi was my grandfather so he I could inherit it and rewrite everything. But, then, it wouldn't be suitable for children under the age of thirteen, would it? Also, the pairing belongs to LadyBloodShedRed. The plot line and everything else belongs to me.

Chapter 1

Shall We Meet Again

By CFB

Hazel eyes flashed in the furious glare of the sunlight, watching surrounding upperclassmen cautiously, curiously. How carefree they seemed to be, not worrying about the eyes that followed their ecstatic trails off of the school campus. How she wished to be like them instead of constantly remembering the past that did not seem to exist in the realm of reality anymore as it once did to her.

That summer was gone, though the heat still stayed, reminding her even more strongly what it must be like for him…in the desert, far, far away. Too far away for her, she felt. As the days wore on the summer stretched thin, she felt her heart break with each minute that he wasn't near her. She knew she was being silly. How could anyone like him love someone like her? In her own opinion, she was not the best looking girl in the world. But he was the best looking guy, and she was sure she was in love.

Again, she thought herself silly and childish. She barely knew him. She couldn't love him, as a person. But she did love him, the outside him. His wonderfully tanned skin and dark, mysterious eyes. Oh, how she loved them and wished to see them once more. Oh, how fickle fate could be.

She stood slowly as her brother came around the corner of the gym, sweaty from practice and red in the face from the exhilaration.

"Hey." He said, slightly winded, but not badly.

She smiled in reply, putting on her usual happy façade as she had for the past two weeks, trying to beat down her inner struggle and torture. If her brother knew how she really felt about the love of her life…

She didn't want to think about it. He would probably do something drastic and spastic all at once. Not something she would to look forward to in the least.

"Don't you want to change?" She asked, flipping a bit of her auburn bangs out of her eyes as a short gust of wind blew through the leaves of the towering oak trees.

They made her feel small, the trees. Although, she was not of a very considerably tall height to begin with, the trees had some strange effect on her mind. As if they were always whispering in the wind, playing tricks on everyone who dared to cross them. And yet, as she was feeling small and puny compared to them, she felt connected to them. They gave her strength and made her feel bigger than she was. Somehow, she had gotten the short end of the stick when it came to height.

"I'm fine. I'll change at home." He replied, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

She grimaced in disgust and looked away. She voiced her thoughts of how gross she thought his actions were and he grinned and laughed before hugging her and wiping his sweaty face all over her shoulder. She shrieked and fought to get away from him, not caring what anyone else thought. Their opinions didn't matter to her and therefore, she didn't matter much to them.

Jounouchi finally let go of her and she scowled as angrily as possible. He gave her his special smile and she turned away so he wouldn't see hers'.

No matter what they went through, they went through it all together. In each other, they found solace and enveloping need for one another. They had given up on their parents to show such regard or respect for either of them and relied solely on the time they could be together, as one, just brother and sister. Normal. Or, as normal as they could be considering the facts of their poor, troubled childhoods.

Perhaps that's why she felt connected to him…his eyes clearly shone with anger and suspicion. Not even his sister could be trusted. Everyone was against him, and he was against only one person alone. But just by holding one simple grudge on that one person, he was abhorred and ridiculed by all. His loss, and yet at the same time his victory, symbolized the start of renewal. Of his repression, shoving all that had happened to the back of his mind and his memory, things to neglect and never think of again. With it all behind him, he could change. He could love, possibly. Maybe even be taught to trust again, in others and most importantly, himself.

Jounouchi seemed to pick up on her emotions and he gazed at her curiously.

"You okay? You look sad…and you're not talking."

Serenity gasped silently and nearly slapped herself for letting her sentiments go like that. She had promised herself to not show her true feelings so that no one would worry about her.

Her mind scurried to think of an excuse that Jou could believe.

"Um…I'm just…worried."

"About what?" Jou implored curiously.

"About Mom. She's been kind of depressed lately, and…I dunno. I'm just worried. About her well-being."

"Oh." Jou muttered, detecting the lie immediately. When would she ever learn that he knew her better than that? He could read her easily, as if he were looking at a child's picture book.

He suppressed a sigh and opened the door to the apartment complex, letting Serenity go ahead of him. He followed after her, carefully watching her as she became lost in thought again about God know what. Honestly, it irked him to know that something was wrong with her and that had no way of figuring out what it was or how to fix it.

_'Probably just grades'_, he figured as he unlocked the door to their 'home'.

Serenity stepped around the broken and wholesome beer bottles around the couch and hurriedly escaped the real world to her room in where her fantasies ran wild and the past suddenly became the present.

In her own dream world, her happy place, those eyes she yearned for seemed to stare at her everywhere she looked. She wished she could draw as well as Sensei Odom. If she could, she could draw that face and those gorgeous eyes and all the fear and pain hidden behind his lips, where a smile was never worn or wanted.

Sure, she could draw, very well, in fact. Art was her strongest subject, yet at the same time, her weakest. She found she could draw only the outside of things. Not like a vase or something. She could draw the inside of that easily. She couldn't draw emotion or express it in any way.

She sighed, leaving her wishes, wants and regrets behind her and pulled out her pile of homework. Of course, her art homework had to be the worst possible assignment for her: draw someone you care the most about.

CFB: Well? Good? Too deep or detailed? Any idea who she's in love with? If you look carefully, I put a lot of hints in there. If you can't figure it out…well, that sucks. Keep trying. Anyways, review, please! I'll see if I can pull something out of my mind like this again soon! By the way, does anyone get the trees thing? If you do, leave it in your review!


	2. Learn to Lose

CFB: Sorry about the last chapter. I had quite a few errors in it. I tried to re-upload the chapter that had the errors fixed, but, it didn't work. Sorry! Anyways, this chapter will take place on Monday. If you didn't perceive that it was Friday in the first chapter, well, now you know.

Also, Cymoril Avalon, I knew someone would ask about the names. Thank you. I meant to explain in the first chapter, but I felt like I was rambling. In this fic, all of the characters' names will be in the Japanese version except Serenity's. Why? Because, as I said before, she is a strictly undermined character. If I were naive about the Japanese version, I would have no idea who Shizuka is. So please excuse the fact that I am intertwining the dub and Japanese together, but it is for the sake of all the readers. As for the comment about this flowing…thank you for the consideration, but I am trying to please everyone all at once. Count on someone like me to be the suck-up. I'm deeply sorry that you feel this story will not flow to the best of its abilities, but I am trying my hardest. Try to bear with me on it, please. Also, I posted another version of this on MediaMiner, and Serenity's name has been changed to Shizuka on it.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Whatever it is. I'm dead pan broke. If I owned whatever you think I'm owning…I would be rich monkey living in a cardboard box.

Chapter 2

Shall We Meet Again

By CFB

Sensei Odom frowned. This was not the best she had ever seen by Serenity, her most promising student. But, then again, Serenity had been very strange lately. Falling in and out of day dreams. She would watch Serenity carefully when she was away, cantering about her own mind. Sometimes, the expressions on her face brought Sensei Odom so much pain that she wished she could leave the room entirely. To put it simply, Serenity wore her heart on her sleeve when deep in thought, and Odom had to wonder what she was thinking about when she made those horrible, contorted faces. Now, she knew why.

The charcoal drawing sitting in front of her on her desk was what she would expect from a beginner. No feeling, no heart. Serenity obviously did not let herself go when she drew. Perhaps she was afraid to. Afraid of what might happen should she let others see what was in her very soul.

This thought worried Odom. If Serenity could unleash her soul into her drawings, she would be great. A real artist. One that feels and lives in every line or curve made with their charcoal, paint, pencil, any utensil used to make art. If she could reach that potential, she would be among the best, competing to get to the top.

Odom cast a glance at Serenity. She was concentrating over something on her desk. Her charcoal was in left hand and her kneaded eraser in the other, along with random sticks of charcoal sticking out, wedged between her fingers just in case she needed one of them. Odom stood and came over to her and looked over her shoulder.

"Serenity." She said softly.

Serenity gasped and looked up, quickly lifting her charcoal off the sketch pad before it could smear.

"Yes, Sensei Odom?"

Odom hesitated before pulling a stool away from another table and sitting on it next to Serenity.

"Listen. Don't think of me as your sensei right now. I am your friend. What are you feeling right now?"

Serenity's mind whirled around in tight circles, dizzying her to no end and suddenly, the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. She told Odom of how she loved him, but couldn't have him. Of how she felt so weak but so strong at the same time. Her thoughts were muddled and confused and broken. Shattered into tiny pieces while she scrambled to put them back together.

Odom smiled and caused Serenity even more confusion.

"What?"

"Serenity…take all that emotion and thought. Shove it into your charcoal and go. Let your hand control the charcoal by itself. Let yourself go."

Serenity gulped and nodded.

"Okay…" She whispered feeling weak and frail again.

She just couldn't help it. She felt like wanting to be weak. Maybe it would bring him back. But she knew it wouldn't. He never noticed her. All he knew was that she was Jounouchi's little sister, almost a nonentity, and that Jounouchi hated him with a severe passion.

She sighed and pressed the end of her charcoal to the page. Her hand flew across the page almost spastically. The element of time passed into nonexistence and she found herself dismayed and angry when the bell rang, signaling lunch. She closed her drawing pad and shoved it into her backpack savagely before cleaning everything else up that was on her desk. Yes, she was furious with time and how it so easily slipped from her mind then came back to her and knocked her once across the scull.

Oh, she had a headache. She was tired of pretending to be what she wasn't. Happy, social, carefree. She made a mental note to be herself at lunch.

What she hadn't expected was making everyone else around her worried sick.

"Serenity, are you okay?" Anzu questioned, her brow furrowed in sorrowful shock.

Yugi cocked his head to the side and studied her for a minute. Like Jou, he could read Serenity as well, and had to admit that he enjoyed her company much more than any other girl he knew. Not that he was attracted to her in that way or anything. It was more like a deep, nearly unnoticeable bond between the two of them. Like brother and sister.

After a while, he looked away and opened his backpack. He pulled out a white envelope.

"Hey, I got this in the mail yesterday. I wanted to wait until everyone was here to open it…"

Anzu left Serenity's issue alone and sat down facing Yugi. Jou smiled excitedly.

"I got one too! I left mine at home, though."

Yugi lifted a small shoulder and ripped the shorter side of the envelope off. He pulled out a neatly folded document and read through it. His eyes lit up with excitement and he beamed at the group.

"It's an invitation to a Duel Monsters tournament in Tokyo! It says all the best known duelists from all over the world have been invited and the winner gets a special prize!"

Serenity's heart skipped a beat and she smiled to herself. Yugi caught it but decided to ask her afterwards about her motives. Instead, he looked at Jou. He was on the edge of his seat as well with the news and fidgeted nervously.

"All over the world? Does that mean that American girl will be back?"

"Most likely…but that's okay! The rest of the tournament should be okay! We could probably ditch Rebecca anyways."

Anzu quirked an eyebrow at Yugi's statement. How such an innocent guy like himself could say such inconspicuously mean things was beyond her. She secretly wondered how he had maintained his innocence for sixteen years while most boys his age were rowdy and obnoxious.

Jou broke off in the middle of a sentence and stared at the sensei walking towards them holding a large piece of paper. Odom smiled at Serenity and handed her the drawing she had turned in as homework that morning.

"Y-you graded it already?" Serenity breathed.

"I was afraid to. Look, I saw your work today in class. Redo this drawing with the same amount of emotion as you did in class. Then, I will accept this. I won't count it against you. I just need more feeling. And can I have one of those rice balls? They look delicious."

Serenity smiled, relieved that Odom and broken the tension right after creating it. She handed her a rice ball.

"I made them myself." She said proudly.

Odom nodded, looking at the rice.

"You have skills. Use them, please. My deepest apologies to bother you at lunch, but…I had to let you know before you left school."

Serenity nodded, and then reached for her backpack. She pulled out her sketch book and opened it up to the drawing she'd done in class and handed it to Odom. The delighted smile shocked her as it spread across Odom's lips.

"Now _this_ is a fine piece of art. You've done it, Serenity."

The corners of Serenity's mouth lifted a bit and Odom checked her watch quickly.

"Oh…I forgot that I have a meeting at the Art Museum downtown in an hour. I'll see you tomorrow, Serenity."

Serenity bowed her head slightly in respect for Sensei Odom and Odom quickly ambled away, her high heels clicking against the ground with the rhythm of her relaxed, comfortable stroll.

Jou snatched the drawing out of Serenity's hand and his mouth opened. But he was speechless. Serenity narrowed her eyes at him and grabbed the two top corners of the page before ripping the paper straight through the middle.

"Why…? Why did you draw him?" Yugi questioned.

Serenity lowered her eyes, the accusation in Yugi's tone evident. For some reason, his words stung her. Disappointment. Sometimes, it was worse than physical punishment.

"What was the assignment?" Anzu asked conversationally, missing the awkward moment between the three of them.

Serenity sighed and gazed at Jou from the corner of her eyes. Bewilderment and anger coincided upon his features.

"Someone you care the most about…" He trailed.

His long, dirty blonde hair fell over his eyes, hiding from Serenity. Pained that it was not his face upon the paper. He tore it again, just to see the look on Serenity's face.

Anzu glowered and seized the drawing from Jou, contempt shining in her eyes. She returned the paper to Serenity.

"Serenity…can we talk after school?"

Serenity didn't answer at first, knowing it was a rhetorical question and it didn't matter what she wanted at all. Finally, she nodded.

"I have to wait for Jou, anyways…"

"Good. Meet me over by the girl's gym, okay?"

She nodded again, resisting the forlorn sigh upon her lips.

Is this what he would go through if this were him? Probably not. Men weren't treated the same way. If they wanted something or somebody, they could have it.

Honda jogged over, his backpack sliding off his right shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late! VP held me up."

He sat down next to Serenity, a little too close for her comfort, and she scooted away noticeably. She didn't like to be ungrateful to him and she knew it would break his heart, but she just had to get him away. And being in a poor mood was the best time to do it so she could regret it all later, after it was said and done, she decided.

"Honda, please don't flirt with me. Your feelings are not returned." She declared evenly, staring him straight in the eye.

"What? I wasn't…why would I…how did you…?" He stammered, his capillaries exploding and tinting his cheeks cherry red.

She began to doubt herself and looked across the campus at the nearest tree. Assurance seemed to evade her. Even her trees were going to abandon her; be disappointed in her and make sure she knew it.

She turned on Jou suddenly and shoved the four pieces of paper that had once been the face of her innermost dreams into his lap.

"Get over it." She spat before standing up, ignoring the head rush she achieved by doing so, and grasped her satchel's strap. She stormed away, seething to herself.

Such was the artist's life. Sharp, quick tempers only to be soothed by losing themselves and becoming one dancing, floating figure on a stretch of canvas. Emotions running high and unpredictable mood changes were apparently essential and pride was a must. To have received anger and accusations for what she had produced triggered her defiant pride and her flaring temper.

Alone she sat. Uncanny silence reigned about her and the present turned colorless and drained away. In replacement came the past. Bright, colorful, filled with him. All that she needed was there in her own mind. Everything else just didn't seem to matter to her at all and she realized that she needed to stop living in memories. Instead, she would make her memories live.

The charcoal seemed warm to her touch, as if enchanted. The white, empty space before her glowed brilliantly, waiting to bear upon itself the every thought, emotion, and plan running through her.

She easily lost herself, tossing her worries aside and letting her hand control and contain everything. Not even the bell to signal the end of lunch could awaken her from the trance she had captured her mind in.

CFB: All right, don't say it. It wasn't as good as the first chapter nor was it as long. But that's okay. Oh, before anyone asks why Serenity is art-centered and left handed, please think of the facts! If you had a disease that made you legally blind for most of your life and then suddenly you could see everything perfectly, wouldn't you want to draw and capture every beauty you see around you? And with the left hand thing, most artistic people are left handed because it is controlled by the right brain which is the more creative and abstract thinking side of the brain. There. Now none of you can ask. Hah. Anyways, as always, reviewer thanks!

**Mira Nova 23:** Thank you! I was hoping to make the most vivid picture possible! As for the trees, if you noticed that I said at first they made her feel small, but then at the end of the paragraph they made her feel strong and bigger than she really was. You can probably pick it up from the dub, but Serenity looks to Jou for strength. So, the trees symbolize her brother. They'll stand for something else later.

**LadyBloodShedRed:** -sweatdrops- Wow. That was interesting. –throws random potato at Marik- oh, whoops! That was supposed to be a tomato! Sorry! Anywho, thanks for reviewing. I am SUCH an idiot. I completely missed your email! I found it this morning before school and by then it was too late! But maybe we can make a different joint fic with one of the shippings. We need something weird, though, so we can claim to be the first, 'kay? I'll answer your email ASAP!

**Cymoril Avalon:** Thank you for the compliment! Like I said, I can handle criticism well and it doesn't bother me in the least because I know it's probably good advice, but the name mix up is for everyone else out there who doesn't know her as Shizuka. I try not to confuse people...yet somehow I end up doing so anyways. I know the first chapter was confusing. I did that on purpose. I wanted to kind of show how the mind works and how certain things reminded her of the guy she thinks she loves. So, yeah, it'll skip around a bit in this story. Oh, about Jou. He's tall and he's built. Somehow, he's gotta stay that way, right? So, in this, he's a jock. You can pick what sport you want him playing, I suppose. It won't play a very big part in this at all, I just needed a reason for her to be at school still.

**TheElfChaser:** Thanks for the review! Sorry I didn't update sooner! I actually had this written the day after I posted the first chapter! Agh…

CFB: Well, until next time! Review, please!


	3. Apologies and Italian Dishes

Disclaimer: Personally, this is really stupid. Obviously we don't own it if we're writing a fan fiction about it. I mean, if we owned it, we'd just change it to whatever the hell we want, right? Right. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or anything else lawyers may find in here to sue me about.

Chapter 3

Shall We Meet Again

By CFB

"Jou! _Jou_!"

Jou turned slightly to his left in time to see Yugi pelting towards him.

"Yeah?"

Yugi skidded to a stop beside the taller boy and caught his breath.

"I was just wondering where Serenity is. Her art sensei asked me to find her to get her artwork from her. You know, that picture of, um, him…"

Jou snorted and quickened his pace. He didn't quite feel up to talking about his sister. Betrayal was an emotion he was still wrestling with.

"Jou, c'mon, just tell me where she is. It's not a crime or anything."

"She's suspended for two days."

Yugi's jaw dropped an inch in shock and he stopped walking altogether.

"_Suspended_?" He whispered in awe.

Jou grunted.

"Yeah, suspended. First offense for cutting classes."

"I thought they usually only gave one day of suspension?"

"She cut two classes, Yugi. She never showed up for class after lunch. When I got home, she had locked herself in her room. Probably asleep and dreaming of that miserable scum bag—oh, forget it. I should've known this was coming, right? Girls always want the guys they shouldn't have. Right…?"

Yugi's left eyebrow raised slowly and he placed a hand on Jou's forearm.

"Um, Jou, no offense, but I think you should take this up with a professional, not me," Yugi started, earning a reproachful glare from the other, "Not that I don't care! I'm just saying I don't know how to help you with it. I guess…I guess I could talk to her, or something. If it would make you feel better…"

"Yeah…would you? She's mad at me."

Yugi rolled his eyes.

"What did you do this time?"

Jou didn't answer, but he narrowed his eyes and shifted his gaze to the trees.

"I ripped her drawing. I mean, c'mon, it was _Ishtar_! Why is she thinking of him? He was…jeez, he tried to kill us all! I had a right to be angry, right?"

"You didn't have to rip up her drawing."

Jou and Yugi glanced at Anzu. She sighed and pulled the four pieces of the drawing out of her backpack. Jou snatched them away from her.

"Yeah, I did! I swear, if he's at the tournament, I'm going to kick his—"

"Jou, shut up. I'm coming over tonight to talk with her. She never met me after school on Monday."

"Don't you have work tonight?"

She shook her head, a few strands of her hair getting caught on her eyelashes. She brushed them away irritably.

"I think you're being a little selfish, Jou. I think the _real_ problem is that she drew Malik and not you."

Blood rushed to his cheeks and his spine straightened in anger.

"You don't have any right to tell me—"

"Yeah, I do. As your friend, I have every right to set you straight. Let's go. I have a project to do later on with Misou."

"The _cheerleader_?"

"Yes, Jou, the cheerleader. She happens to be the best student in the class."

All tension and anger gone, the two of them squabbled about Misou the entire way to the apartment.

Jou unlocked the door and let Anzu inside.

"Excuse the mess…my dad…"

"Don't worry about it. Which one is her room?"

He waved his hand towards Serenity's closed door. Anzu picked her way through the beer bottles and knocked on the door.

"Serenity? It's me, Anzu. Can we talk?"

Silence.

It was suffocating, heavy. Fragile. Anything could break it, but still it smothered them.

Serenity's door opened and Anzu was permitted entrance. The only thing Jou heard was Anzu's gasp before the door closed again and he was locked out.

Sighing, he decided to pick up the bottles laying around. An hour passed…then two hours…

Anzu emerged from the room with tear stains on her cheeks and puffy eyes. Jou stared at her in bewilderment.

"What happened!"

She sniffled and didn't meet his gaze.

"I think…you owe her an apology."

And then she left. Jou stared, dumbfounded, at Serenity's door. It was cracked open by an inch and he perceived the smell of fresh paint.

"Serenity…?"

The doorway widened and Serenity appeared wearing paint-covered over-alls and a shy grin. Her paintbrush dripped on the plastic floor covering.

"What the hell did you _do_?"

Her grin faltered and she looked down at the bristles of her paintbrush.

"I…I had to let go of some stuff…"

Jou figured he had two options. He could gawp at her in disbelief or he could try to make amends for the stupid things he had done.

So he did both.

"Jou, please don't—"

He shook his head and closed his mouth.

"You want some help?"

"I was just—what?"

"Do you want some help?" He repeated slowly, enunciating the words carefully.

A gracious smile spread across her lips.

"Yeah."

He lifted himself from the couch and went to her. Her cheeks pinked; her nerves frayed and her uncertainty of Jou's disposition still haunting her. He pulled her into a tight embrace and she gasped and hugged him back.

"Sorry for being an idiot," he muttered.

"It's okay…I should've…drawn you instead. You're more important than him."

He smiled.

"Well, at least you've got one thing straight."

A small, nervous laugh escaped her.

"Umh, Jou…your uniform has pink paint on it."

He swore under his breath and released her to check the back of his jacket. She held up the paintbrush timidly.

"Sorry?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah…you're lucky I have an extra."

The corners of her mouth lifted and she allowed him in her room. He gazed around at the walls in awe. The walls were all different colors, the last wall had a window placed in the center of it and only half of it was pink, the other half white.

He reached for a paint roller.

"So…what're you gonna do after all this dries?"

"I'm going to paint a mural."

"A what?"

"A mural. A picture telling a story. Oh, c'mon, Jou, don't give me that look! I know you've seen one before."

He brushed it aside and shook his head at her impractical notions.

"Whatever you want, Sis…"

Determination burned in her eyes.

"I do."

And he believed her.

page break>

"Serenity, I graded your drawing."

Serenity looked up at Odom warily.

"And?"

"I'm impressed. I left it in my office. Could you come see me after school? I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?"

"Yes, only offered to art students as talented as you. You know where my office is?"

Serenity nodded, a smile tugging at her lips.

"The top floor, right?"

"Right. I'll be here until five tonight, so come at any time."

"I'll be there right after school."

Odom beamed.

"Perfect."

The period ended and Serenity hurried to lunch. She threw her satchel down and grabbed Jou's arm.

"Sensei Odom wants me to meet her after school for a special proposition!"

"What kind of proposition?" Yugi implored curiously.

Serenity turned her excitement-lit eyes to him.

"She said one only offered to talented art students! Jou, d'you have practice today?"

"Naw, coach cancelled. He's got the flu."

"Can you come with me? I'm kinda nervous."

"Sure."

Anzu plopped down on the bench and sent Jou and meaningful look. He inclined his head to her and she smiled.

"How's the room coming?"

Serenity's smile wouldn't disappear.

"Great! I've started the outline of the mural already. I'm kind of having problems with Yugi's hair though…"

Yugi did a double-take.

"What's wrong with my hair!"

"Nothing! It's just hard to paint. Hey! Maybe everyone could—?"

"Hey, wait a second. Before you make any plans, we gotta ask Dad. Plus, the tournament's this weekend. We're all going to be driving to Tokyo tomorrow after school."

Serenity pouted and Yugi chuckled.

"We'll all come over next weekend, 'kay?"

"I guess…"

"Even me?" Honda asked bitterly.

She bit her lip hesitantly.

"Sorry. I was…I was in a really bad mood and I took it out on you."

"Uh-huh."

Jou narrowed his eyes at Honda.

"Get your head out of your ass, Honda. She just apologized to you, even though you don't deserve it."

"I don't deserve—?"

"I agree with him," Anzu stated, cutting off Honda, "You were being extremely obvious and you were pressing on her personal space. No girl likes that."

Honda snorted in incredulity.

"Yeah, well…whatever. I have to go finish a project…"

He snatched up his backpack and stormed away from the group.

"Does he _have_ to be in the mural?" Jou growled.

Serenity gave him a stern look.

"Yes."

"Fine, fine…I still don't understand this whole mural business. Why are we all in it?"

"Because…I…you guys mean the most to me. You're like the trees to me, I guess…"

She noted their weird stares and sighed deeply.

"We're _trees_ to you?" Yugi asked, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the statement.

"It's a long story."

"Speaking of long stories, I have one for you."

The four of them looked at Ryou in shock.

"Where have you been the last few days?" Anzu questioned.

"Let me tell my long story and you'll find out," He replied heavily, seating himself on the bench.

"Ooh, story time. It's like preschool again!" Yugi cheered.

Ryou gave him an uncharacteristically distressed look. Yugi's smile flopped and he gulped. Ryou took a deep breath and looked away from them.

"It all started when Bakura decided to make curry…"

Serenity giggled. Ryou glanced at her, grinning.

"That's exactly what I thought. But he was serious. I think…he's gone…insane."

"Y'mean he wasn't already?" Jou snorted.

"Well, _more_ insane. Guys…he wants to learn how to cook. Like, he enrolled _me_ in cooking school! What am I supposed to do about him?"

But they were all laughing too hard to answer or give him any useful advice.

"I don't think you understand. The fire department was already called once because of a kitchen fire…he tried to make Baked Alaska. I guess he was watching some American cooking show on TV…Emeril or something…I dunno, but he says this one thing and it makes me jump out of my skin. Anyways, Bakura can't speak English, so he was trying to just guess what the chef was using and he caught the kitchen on fire. I've been missing the last few days because I've been with my father, trying to get money to replace the oven and the microwave. My landlord is _not_ happy."

"Umh…Ryou…I think…you should sit him down and have a serious conversation about his motives." Serenity said, giggling all the while.

Ryou rolled his eyes.

"I may not have a couch to put him on if my father doesn't give us money…"

"Why won't he give you money?"

"That's another long story for another time. The point is…I need a place to stay for a week."

"I'll ask Grampa."

"Thanks! I promise, I will try to keep Bakura away from your kitchen."

"No, no. I've been dying to have the kitchen remodeled for years. By all means, let him burn it down."

Ryou smiled graciously at Yugi.

"Thanks. You're a life saver."

"I know. Hey, are you coming to Tokyo with us?"

Ryou lifted a shoulder.

"I might be…depends on when my first cooking class is…guys, stop laughing! This is a serious issue!"

But no one was listening to him anymore as they were all rolling in laughter.

page break>

"He said you're welcome to stay with us. I hope you don't mind sleeping on a couch."

Ryou stared at Yugi, dumbfounded.

"Yugi…how did you find my apartment?"

Yugi grinned.

"I asked a friend of yours."

A succulent smell wafted in from the kitchen.

"Mmm…what _is_ that?" Yugi asked, his eyes wide.

Ryou sighed.

"Bakura."

"I'm staying for dinner! We can do our math together."

Ryou groaned and let him inside. Yugi wandered into the kitchen to find Bakura concentrating over a pot of stringy noodles. Yugi stood beside him.

"What're you making?"

Bakura frowned and furrowed his brow.

"An Italian dish…spaghetti. But the noodles aren't…why am I talking to you? Get out of my kitchen."

Yugi raised his eyebrows and look up at him.

"_Your_ kitchen?"

"Yes, _my_ kitchen. Scram. I've gotta fix these noodles."

Yugi chortled and backed off.

"Hey, it smells good though. Where did you learn to cook, anyways?"

Bakura was concentrating on the sauce then and nodding in satisfaction.

"I lived in the desert on my own for years…I had to learn how to feed myself. No one wants to eat food that tastes like crap…and I am no exception. Personally, I'm done with take-out. I mean, for Re's sake, he's got the restaurant down the street on speed dial…"

"No I don't." Ryou retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't argue with me. I could blackmail you into next year."

Yugi's shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. He decided in that moment that he needed to have dinner with the Bakuras more often.

"With what?"

Bakura sent Ryou a smirk.

"I found that picture in your wallet…along with something else that I won't mention out loud. So much for being a good Catholic."

Ryou's cheeks reddened suddenly in defiance and embarrassment.

"I'm Anglican, idiot."

"Oh, even better! So, tell me about Krissy."

"Bakura, not right now..." Ryou whined.

"Be a man. Tell me. Girlfriend? Friend? I need details."

Yugi accidentally laughed out loud. Ryou sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Girlfriend _and_ best friend. Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I always thought you were gay."

Yugi ducked out of the room, afraid of insulting Ryou with his obvious amusement with Bakura's assumptions.

"WHAT!"

"It's the sweaters. Besides, _all_ your clothes match. Metro sexual isn't too far from homosexual, you know…"

Ryou mouthed wordlessly at him. Bakura smiled in triumph, lifting a noodle out of the pan. He turned to Ryou and flung the noodle past his head. Ryou yelled out something indiscernible as the noodle hit the wall with a splat.

"Get that for me, will you?" Bakura asked congenially, turning off the stove and draining the noodles.

Ryou gaped at him.

"What are you on!"

"Me? Nothing. It was the pharaoh who shot opiates. I have proof, too. Now can you get me that noodle? It's stuck to the wall."

Ryou swiveled on his heel and lo and behold, the noodle was indeed stuck to the wall.

"How did you…?"

"That means the noodles are done, moron. Now get it, already!"

Ryou jumped and retrieved the noodle for Bakura. He took it from him and tossed it into the trashcan.

"Is Pharaoh eating with us, too?"

"I don't know."

"Ask."

"You."

"Ryou."

"Fine."

Ryou huffed out of the kitchen to find Yugi. He found him in the living room watching TV with the pharaoh.

"You're both eating then?"

"Yup. Is it ready?"

"Apparently," Ryou grumbled.

"Great. I'm starving." Pharaoh said, getting up from the couch.

"Umh…did you ever…do anything with opiates back in Egypt?" Ryou asked hesitantly.

Bakura's laughter carried out to them from the kitchen.

"Nice one!"

Ryou blushed. Pharaoh rolled his eyes.

"Did he tell you I did?"

"Yeah, and he said he has proof, too."

"If anyone was on opiates, it was him. Swear to Re, always barging right in like he was immortal…"

"He kinda _was_."

Ryou received a glare for that comment and he shut up about it.

CFB: Well…that was mostly dialogue, and not much emotion…though I must admit, I was laughing while I was writing this. This was kind of a drabble that doesn't really have anything to do with the story line, but it kind of does. Yeah, I know, confusing. Also, I have NO idea what to call the pharaoh in this. I'm thinking I should just call him 'Yami' so everyone knows who I'm talking about, but…in the Japanese series Yugi calls him 'mou hitori no boku'. Gah, I'm confused. He doesn't even play a big role in this…oh well. Review please!

Side note: Even if this _was_ drabble, it gave a look into the lives of everyone else involved to show why they act like they do. And personally, I think it would be uber funny to see Bakura toiling over the stove. And I know that Ryou's the innocent and quiet type, but even they have girlfriends sometime in their adolescent lives. And did anyone pick up on the whole Catholic thing? If you did, that was my friend's idea. She's Catholic and she thought it'd be _really_ funny to add in there. So if you picked up on it and thought it was funny, I'll send the comments on to her.


	4. First Impressions

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other copyrighted, patented, trademarked, or otherwise items possibly used in this chapter.

**Chapter 4**

Serenity hesitated, then her fist came down upon the cherry wood door in a series of light raps.

"Come in."

She pushed open the door and admitted herself and Jou inside the office. Odom smiled and stood to greet them.

"Thank you for coming! Please, sit down. Would you like water or biscuits?"

Jou's eyebrows flew up and his jaw dropped. Serenity lifted his chin back up before her sensei noticed. She grabbed him by the elbow and steered him into a seat, taking the other one offered while smiling sweetly at Odom.

"I would love a biscuit, thank you."

Odom resumed her seat and pushed the platter of biscuits towards her two guests. Jou numbly took one (he _was_ rather hungry) and kept staring at Odom like she was an enigma.

"Now, Serenity, I stopped by an art exhibit the other day, and I spoke with the owner of the museum. He's an old friend of mine from college. Anyways, I told him about you and how amazing your artwork is becoming now that you're finally getting the hang of letting the hand work on its own. He agreed to take a look at your portfolio, and if your artwork passes his judgment, it could be in the next gallery!"

Serenity nearly toppled out of her seat. Instead, her biscuit tumbled from her fingertips and her face drained of all color.

"Are you serious?" She asked breathily, moving to hold the arms of the chair to ensure that she wouldn't fall out.

Odom beamed and nodded.

"Quite serious. You mentioned a mural?"

"Yes, in my-my room." She stuttered.

"Perhaps you should take a picture of it, or bring him a sketch of the final product. He likes variety when it comes to talent."

Jou decided it would be a good time to come into the conversation.

"What does she get from this, besides people gawping over her art?" He asked suspiciously.

Serenity held in a groan and resisted the urge to smack him senseless.

"Well, she has a chance at a scholarship—"

And she really did fall out of her chair.

**

* * *

**

Jou was still laughing when they left the nurse's office. Serenity scowled up at him and playfully punched his arm.

"Shut up. That was beyond embarrassing…"

Jou chuckled one last time and pulled her into a light, one-armed hug.

"I don't think she took you for the type to have random fainting spells."

She smacked him away and walked a bit faster than him, aiming for the run-down apartment building in the distance.

**

* * *

**

"Absolutely not."

Serenity's mouth fell open.

"Dad, why—?"

"Because I said so."

"But Jou's going!"

"And so is that Honda kid. You're not going."

Jou stepped forward.

"Dad, I think I can protect her from _Honda_—!"

"Well, it's not just him, it's all of Tokyo. All of 'em are drug-dealers, potential rapists, and bad influences for my only daughter."

Serenity rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Like you're one to talk." She muttered under her breath, kicking over a beer bottle, not expecting the vile liquid to gush out all over the floor.

"Oh, now you've done it! Clean it up before the landlord starts complaining about leaky ceilings!" Her father hollered.

She grimaced and began mopping up the beer with a dirty shirt she found nearby. The toxic smell wafted up to her and she nearly lost whatever she'd eaten for dinner (microwave meals all looked and tasted the same after eating them for a year).

"Dad, if I wear a chastity belt and wore a turban over my face, would you _please_ let me go to Tokyo?"

Her father gave her a skeptic look.

"Why a turban?"

"I figured drug-dealers wouldn't mess with someone they thought was Muslim." She replied grudgingly, not missing Jou's shaking shoulders and his silent laughter.

"Will you stop bugging me about it if I let you go?"

"Yes."

"Why's it so important anyways? You went to the last duel monsters tournament. If you've seen one game, you've seem 'em all."

"Not true! Besides, I have to cheer for Jou!" She retaliated, glancing at Jou and seeing his look of distaste.

"All right, fine. But if you let her out of your sight, Jounouchi, don't expect to leave this apartment for a month!"

Jou quickly composed his features as his father turned to him. He nodded solemnly.

"I promise."

"On your life?"

"On my life."

"Good. Now get out of here. I hope you're packed."

Serenity jumped up and hugged the man, a rare occasion. He grunted and gently pushed her away.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you when you get home."

Serenity, her spirits soaring, flew into her bedroom and grabbed her pre-packed suitcase. She rolled it out to the front door and bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. Jou met up with her with his own bag, his duel disc carefully tucked under his arm and his deck nestled in his pocket.

"When they buzz up, we can go."

Serenity gave him a look.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious."

"Hey, you're the one who used me to get on Dad's good side." He grumbled.

"Did not, I was telling the truth."

"Part of it."

"But I _did_ tell the truth." She retorted, grinning impishly.

He sighed and gave a small jump when the door call buzzed. He pushed intercom and announced that they were on their way.**

* * *

**

The car ride couldn't be considered torture. However, it wasn't exactly enjoyable either.

The tension and rivalry between Honda and Jou, and the fact that Honda avoided Serenity like the plague, secured a very uncomfortable seven hour trip to Tokyo. Anzu, Ryou, and Yugi tried to make light of the situation and rope the others into amiable conversation, but to no avail. Serenity had no other choice but to rest her head on Jou's shoulder and fall into a dreamless sleep. Therefore escaping four hours of mental distress, for the moment Jou heard her deep breathing, he turned a scathing glare on Honda and muttered a threat.

It was a relief to enter the big city. Serenity was awoken by a loud gasp issued from Anzu.

"Oh my GOD! It's _him_!" She shrieked, gaping at a haughty young man with a crowd of paparazzi tailing him.

Serenity blinked a few times, then looked out the window to try and recognize the man. When she did, she did the same thing Anzu did.

"Oh my GOD! It really _is_ him! Can we stop and get his autograph? _Please_?" She begged, pulling on Jou's shirt sleeve.

"Chill out, what for?" He snapped, tugging his sleeve away from her.

"Duh! He's the hottest rock star _ever_. _And_ an excellent actor." She replied frostily, insulted by Jou's ignorance.

"So? He probably lives here. And I think he was the potential rapist Dad warned you about."

Serenity sighed in disgust and settled back into her seat.

"We'll sneak out of the hotel later tonight, Anzu."

Anzu sent her a scheming smirk.

"You get the rope?"

"As long as you get the duct tape." Serenity replied.

Grampa Mutou chuckled and Ryou groaned in horror.

"_Why_ did I come along? I'll never survive with these two!"

"Hey, we have to put up with them too. And you will be doing nothing with ropes and duct tape." Jou reprimanded.

"Hey, I recognize _that_ limo." Honda murmured, pointing out the window.

Jou growled deep in his throat.

"Shoulda known. 'World's Best Duelists' _had_ to include Kaiba."

"Well, yeah, but there's probably a lot of others coming too. We most likely won't even meet up with him." Yugi said.

An 'if we're lucky' was implied to end of his statement, but no one said it aloud.

Grampa pulled into a parking garage.

"Here we are. Let's go check in."

Grampa and the six teens piled out of the van, all stretching their legs gratefully and walking about aimlessly to enjoy the feel of mobility again.

"If I ever become a paralytic…" Yugi trailed, Serenity being the only one close enough to hear him.

She giggled and he flashed her a grin.

The warm, soft interior of the hotel lobby was calling, and the troupe set off for it. Grampa stood in line to check in while the teens went around looking for the gift shop.

"I can't wait to see the city," Anzu gushed, picking up a vividly colored key chain. "They probably have some really cool dance clubs."

Serenity held up one of the kids' t-shirts.

"Since when do kids wear clothing like _this_?" She asked disgustedly, showing the other the somewhat provocative logo on the shirt.

Ryou grinned.

"I might have to buy that before we leave. I know someone who would get a real laugh out of that."

She handed him the shirt.

"Be my guest, weirdo."

The slightly insulting name slid off him as he promptly took the shirt to the register.

Grampa stuck his head inside the gift shop.

"C'mon, we've got our room keys. Let's unload and get up to our rooms."

"Do we have jointed rooms, Grampa?" Yugi implored, being the first to follow the elderly man out.

"The boys do, but the girls have got a room to themselves."

"Sweet! I brought my X-box, guys!" Yugi cheered.

Jou grinned and followed after him to celebrate with him, but he stopped short.

"Serenity, don't you _dare_ leave that store." He growled, glaring at something in the lobby.

She snorted and maneuvered her way around him in time to see a certain familiar face waving at Yugi. Yugi waved back amicably, as was expected of him, and followed his grandfather outside.

"Anzu, do I look okay? How's my hair? Are my lips all chapped? I forgot to put on chap stick before—"

Anzu laughed and pushed her forwards.

"Relax, Hon'. You have a few days to impress him."

"She won't be impressing _anybody_." Jou argued.

Anzu gave him a deflating look and his resolve withered. He sighed in consent.

"Fine. But nothing better happen between you two."

Ryou bounced up beside them, holding his new purchase happily. Jou stared at him, then shook his head in defeated wonderment.

"You really are a weirdo." He muttered, following after Yugi.

Ryou lifted a shoulder.

"So? I _like_ being weird. At least I'm not psychotic."

"Yet." Serenity added.

He laughed and handed her the bag.

"I think we'll take care of the luggage. You two don't worry about it. And, uh, you might want to introduce her before Jou comes back." He said in a low voice.

Anzu and Serenity watched him and Honda walk away with their eyebrows raised.

"You know, he's probably the type that would sit in front of a fire and read a trashy romance novel."

Serenity laughed at Anzu's assumption.

"He _does_ seem to be a bit of a romantic. I mean, once you get past all the weird, he's a pretty sweet guy."

"Yeah, but we're not here because of him. C'mon."

Serenity gasped as Anzu grabbed her and charged for Malik.

"Hey, Malik, I don't know if you remember me…" Anzu started, flashing a dazzling smile at him.

He turned, startled by their sudden presence. Then he broke out into a warm smile, his eyes inviting.

"You're Anzu, right? A friend of Yugi's." He said, his accent thick.

"Right! And this is my good friend Serenity. She's Jou's sister."

He turned his gaze to her and her stomach flip-flopped; her smile turned out a bit weak and shaky, but it didn't seem to register with Malik.

"I remember you. You had really interesting hair."

Serenity felt Anzu's grip on her tighten in trying to restrain herself from laughing out loud. Serenity's cheeks burned.

"Umh…thanks."

Malik frowned when he saw Anzu's face turning a gentle blue from lack of oxygen.

"Are you okay?"

Anzu took a deep, calming breath and nodded at him.

"Fine." She replied, a small giggle escaping her.

"Uh, it was nice meeting you." Serenity said quickly, drawing the attention away from her struggling friend.

Malik reached out and shook her hand.

"Nice meeting you too, Serenity."

Her hand tingled.

"Yeah."

He looked down where their hands were still connected. Coming back from a day dream state, she blushed furiously and jerked her hand away. He smiled gently.

"I'll see you around."

"Next!" The lady at the desk called.

Malik started and pulled his luggage up to the desk to check in.

Anzu bit her lip to hold it in. Serenity covered her eyes with her hand. When they turned, they found all five of the men staring at them incredulously. Anzu couldn't contain herself anymore. She burst out in bubbly, contagious laughter which Serenity soon followed her in. They stumbled over the others, unable to walk straight while doubled over in laughter.

"He's either not as bright as I first thought him to be, or you made him nervous." Anzu commented, drawing another stain of red to Serenity's cheeks.

Jou shot a glare in Malik's direction, then at Anzu, then grabbed Serenity's shoulder and steered her to the elevator.

Yugi was about to push the button for the third floor when they heard someone swearing in another language.

"Hold the door!"

Serenity recognized the accent and, obviously, so did Jou. He almost reached over to push the button _for_ Yugi, but Serenity stopped him with a scowl she'd inherited from their mother.

Malik jogged into the elevator, slightly out of breath. With his first exhalation came a string of Arabic words that Serenity was quite sure weren't appropriate. Anzu fell into another giggle fit and Malik gave her a strange look.

"Are you laughing because of what I said about her hair?" He asked bluntly.

Anzu nodded, the ability of speech stolen away from her momentarily. Serenity met his gaze sheepishly.

"My apologies. I probably sounded like an idiot—" At that, Jou gave an ungrateful snort, "--but I assure you, I'm not. I'm just tired. I haven't slept for two days straight and now I have jet lag to top it all off."

"Why haven't you slept?" Ryou questioned.

Malik frowned.

"Trust me, you _don't_ want to know. Isis got a boyfriend. That's all I'll say about it."

Yugi's eyes widened.

"You're kidding, right? She actually _dates_?"

Malik gave him a slightly annoyed look.

"Of course she does. She's, what, twenty? That's proper marrying age where we live. But there's a slight problem concerning the dowry."

"You have dowries?"

Malik's eyes rolled heavenward and he glanced to see what floor they were on.

"We like to keep to the old ways. Isis is just ruining _that_ plan. Dating," he sneered, his eyes narrowing and losing their initial warmth. "And he's a merchant, too."

"What's wrong with that?" Serenity asked quietly.

Malik shrugged.

"Constant travel. He'd have no time for her. She needs someone to take care of her, not just make her…I dunno…be the normal 'good wife'."

"Gee, it sounds like you care, Ishtar." Jou snarled.

The elevator doors opened andMalik jerked his suitcase out into the open hallway.

"Why wouldn't I? She's my sister and my mentor. If not for her, I would have never seen the light of day. For that, I would give her my life."

Jou, suddenly struck dumb by Malik's sincere reply, froze in between the elevator doors. Anzu shoved him out, wanting to just jump onto a bed and sleep for a few hours.

"Girls, you're in room 345. Boys, you have rooms 344 and 343."

Malik chuckled.

"Looks like we'll be seeing each other a lot. I'm in room 346."

The second Malik disappeared into his hotel room, Jou grabbed Serenity's key from her.

"This better not be a damn jointed room. You better be wearing that damn chastity belt you promised Dad—"

Serenity, smacked Jou's hand away from the door lock. He gave her a cold look and she swiped her card back.

"Shut up, Jou. You can trust me."

"I can't trust him."

"Then you're just going to have to trust me twice as much to make up for him." She snapped, glaring daggers through him and mentally picturing herself dangling him from the window by his underwear.

Jou got the hint and gruffly entered his own room with Ryou.

"I better not go as insane as you while we're here, Bakura."

Ryou shook his head hopelessly.

"My insanity isn't contagious. I'm sure."

"I dunno about that, Bakura. Obviously if you're buying a tiny t-shirt for someone that just happens to have a subliminal message on it…" Anzu teased.

"Oh, speaking of that," Serenity muttered, handing Ryou his bag from the gift shop.

"Thanks. Have a good night."

"G'night, Ryou." Serenity replied fondly.

He smiled when she used his first name and nodded to her before closing himself inside the room with an irate Jou.

* * *

Serenity stepped out of the hotel room, knowing it was well past two in the morning, and quietly made her way down the hallway to the vending machine. She was starving.

As she slid the money through the slot, she didn't notice the shadow that fell over her.

"Isn't it a little late for a midnight snack?"

Serenity gasped and dropped everything. She turned her wide eyes upon Ryou and clamped a hand over her racing heart.

"Oh my God, Ryou, you scared me!" She hissed.

He smiled.

"Sorry. I was coming to get something to eat, too." He said, reaching down and picking up her fallen items.

"And to get rid of Jou? I could hear through the wall." She said, rolling her eyes and taking her stuff back from him.

"Yeah. He's a little…angry."

Serenity laughed.

"A _little_? Did you see his face when Malik said which room he was in? I thought he was going to combust!"

Ryou grinned and bought his own snack from the machine.

"Hey, if you need my help distracting Jou, I'm at your service. I wasn't supposed to come to this in the first place, so I might as well help out."

"Thanks, Ryou. And who did you buy that shirt for?"

"Oh, one of my best friends from England. Her name's Felicia."

"Your best friend's a girl?"

"Well…" he trailed, blushing, "I'm a bit of a romantic. I just get along with girls easier than guys."

"But you _do_ have a best guy friend, right?"

He nodded, grinning.

"Of _course_ I do. He's Felicia's brother."

"Wow. No one else was worthy of being your best friend?"

"My ex-girlfriend is still my best friend. And I have lots of really close friends."

They headed back down the hallway.

"You had a girlfriend?" She asked, smiling teasingly.

"Yeah, she…she was…cool."

She noted the reserved tone in his voice and decided to move on, not wanting to lose his offer of help.

"How long has it been since you've visited your friends?"

"Oh, I was just there seeing my father. He wasn't on site, so he came back to Surrey for a couple weeks. When I couldn't see him during the day, I was hanging out with all my friends and getting them in trouble for skipping school."

Serenity laughed at her mental picture of _Ryou_ getting someone in trouble. She could see him sneaking around to other houses in all black and using walkie talkies to communicate with the others.

Then again, she couldn't really imagine him in all black. At the moment he was in blue plaid pajamas—true to his innocence.

The elevator doors opened nearby and two people stepped out, carrying suitcases, backpacks, and small MP3 players. They chatted animatedly in English as they passed, but then the girl, her dark brown hair swishing, turned back to look at Ryou. He met her gaze easily and she smiled and came back to him, offering her hand.

"Hi, I'm Kylie."

He took her hand.

"Ryou. Nice to meet you."

"You too. British, right?" She asked, dropping her hand back to her side.

"Yup. And you're American?"

"Damn straight."

Serenity could only stare in wonder as the two flirted, exchanged room numbers, phone numbers, and set up a place to meet at the tournament the following day.

By the time Kylie left (after pecking Ryou on the cheek, of course), Serenity was about to have a heart attack.

"What was _that_?" She hissed.

Ryou chuckled and ushered her towards her room.

"Good night, Serenity."

"Hey, you can't just get rid of me like that—!"

"I can and I am. Good night. It's late and we're supposed to be awake in five hours."

She huffed and let herself into her room, flopping down on her bed grumbling to herself about how bipolar Ryou was.

* * *

Whoot! Extra long chapter! And it only took me four hours to write:) Hope you all enjoyed the latest installment! I just had to get things going, you know? And as for Ryou's character, I _am_ making him OOC on **purpose**. You can't blame me for wanting to explore his character more, can you? I'm pushing Serenity too, pulling at her character as much as I can to make her a more interesting figure. Now, Malik: I can't remember much of his personality, but I do know he was pretty bad with a temper to beat a crocodile's. In this, he has changed. Let's say that after Battle City wrapped up, he got his life back (if he ever had one in the first place) and toned it down a bit. In other words, he controlled the testosterone.

I'm working on moving reviewer thanks to my website (the one listed on my profile), so once I have those up, I'll alert you all to it in whichever chapter is out by then. :)

Thanks for reading! And PLEASE review! You can say _anything_! You can leave something like 'omg, lol' or something like that. I just want all my shadow readers to get out here and tell me what they think. I'm not going to think you're weird or stupid or anything. I cherish everyone who reads this and feels comfortable enough to review.

Again, thanks, and I'll update soon! That's a promise!


	5. Harajuku Shopping and Close Encounters

**Chapter 5** (moving along, aren't we?)

Anzu shook Serenity awake, trying to finish buckling her belt at the same time.

"Wake up, babes. We've got a long day ahead of us."

Serenity groaned and pulled her blankets up and covered her head with her pillow.

"Five more minutes."

"Nope. Hurry up, or I'll let Malik in and let him see you in your pajamas."

Serenity dashed out of bed to the bathroom. Anzu chortled and checked her reflection in the mirror. Deciding there was nothing more to be done with her hair or outfit, she settled down in the semi-uncomfortable hotel chair to read a rather sappy novel she'd picked up from her cousin's apartment. Vaguely she registered the sound of the water from the shower turn off and a small crash. The crash caught her attention and she looked towards the bathroom door. Another crash.

Concerned, Anzu set the book down and move towards the bathroom door, wondering what the problem could be.

A small thud.

Anzu realized, with a start, that the sounds were coming not from the bathroom, but through the door leading to Malik's room. She nearly laughed out loud when she imagined Jou's reaction to finding out that the rooms _did_ happen to be jointed.

Serenity exited the restroom, clad in only a towel, looking spooked.

"What on earth is going on in there? It sounds like he was mugged."

Anzu shrugged.

"No idea. We'll go check after you get dressed."

Serenity blushed and grabbed a set of clothes from her suitcase. She disappeared into the bathroom again and Anzu shook her head.

Serenity came out of the bathroom, fully clothed in a t-shirt and knee-length shorts, and found Anzu staring idly at a book in her hands.

"Hey, let's go. It might be Jou in there beating him senseless."

Anzu grinned and put the book aside, grabbing her purse and joining Serenity. Together, they left the hotel room and moved one door over to press their ears to the door.

A sharp Arabic word came from inside and an audible click. The door cracked open and Anzu tore Serenity away down towards Yugi's door. They froze, watching Malik exit the room with a scowl and a cell phone about to be crushed in his hand. They jumped as Ryou stepped out of his room with burning cheeks. He noticed the girls watching him and smiled graciously.

"'Morning!"

Both girls held their fingers to their lips in an effort to make him quiet. But the damage was done. They had Malik's full attention.

He pivoted on his heel and looked at them, noticing their presence for the first time.

"Oh, good morning. I didn't see you." He said, all traces of anger gone and his expression warm and sincere.

"G'morning." Serenity muttered, offering him a small, nervous smile.

He took it all in his stride and inclined his head toward her for a moment.

"Hey, what was going on? I heard something crash. At first I thought it was Serenity, but…" Anzu trailed, catching sight of Serenity's obvious embarrassment.

"Oh," Malik said, waving it away without even having the grace to blush, "I got a little frustrated and ran into the nightstand. The lamp fell over."

"Oh. I was a little worried."

Malik chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah, don't be."

His cell phone rang, vibrating in his hand. He checked the ID and scowled. He flipped it open and pressed it to his ear.

"What do you want from me now? My name signed in blood, or something? You let me go because I made you a promise, now it would be appreciated if you would trust me and my own judgment. If they show up, I'll hide."

He paused, impervious to the strange looks he was getting from the other three teens in the hallway.

"No, I won't call the police on them again! But I should. Maybe a restraining order…?"

Anzu and Serenity exchanged glances.

"All right, all right. I've gotta get going. I'm starving and the opening ceremonies start in two hours. I'll call you when I get back to the hotel."

Without waiting for reply, he shut his phone with vigor and stuffed it in his back pocket.

"You guys going to breakfast? That is, if you wouldn't mind eating at the same table as me." He said, rolling his eyes.

"We don't mind. It's just Jou. He's been an arse lately." Ryou explained, grabbing Serenity and Anzu by their elbows and propelling them forward towards Malik and the elevator.

"You can say that again! Ever since I started that stupid mural he's been over-protective and rude." Serenity agreed, her annoyance with Jou making her forget her uneasiness with Malik.

"A mural?"

Her nerves returned to her all too quickly.

"Umh, yeah. I paint."

She wanted to take back the words the moment she said them. How idiotic could she sound? 'I paint'. That sounded beyond lame. But, thankfully, Malik just looked interested.

"You're an artist? Really? Could I see your portfolio sometime?"

She stumbled, looking for words. Ryou came to her rescue, reaching around her to press the button to call the elevator.

"She may not have it with her. Jou said something about an art show."

"Yeah, my drawings might be shown in a gallery next weekend. But I brought my sketch book and pencils, so I could draw something for you if you want."

He smiled, the elevator doors sliding open. He let the other three go ahead of him, then stepped on himself.

"That'd be cool. So what's the mural of?"

"My friends." She replied.

"You can paint Yugi's hair?" He asked incredulously, his eyes widening at the prospect of the seemingly arduous job.

"Well, kind of. I'm having problems with it. I was supposed to have them all come over this weekend, but since I ended up in Tokyo instead…"

The grill slid open and they stepped out into the lobby, heading for the hotel restaurant.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be stuck with my sister and her boyfriend in Cairo this weekend. I had to threaten to sneak onto a plane before she let me escape." He said, quickly correcting himself by adding, "I mean 'go'!"

Ryou laughed and stood before the restaurant host.

"How many in your party, Sir?"

"Four."

"Eight." Someone growled from behind them.

Ryou glanced back at Jou's murderous features and decided to stick up for Serenity.

"Two tables of four. I'd like to request that they be far apart, if you will."

While Serenity was about to hug him senseless, Jou was planning on suffocating him in his sleep.

"Right away, Sir. Follow me."

The host led them to their table and seated them.

"Your waiter will be right with you."

He left to escort the other group to their table and Anzu grinned.

"Bakura, I think you're my new hero."

Serenity giggled.

"If he tries to murder you tonight, we have a comfortable floor you can sleep on."

Malik quirked his eyebrow at the statement, but Ryou just smiled.

"I'm afraid that would be taken the wrong way by more than just your brother."

"So? We all know you're innocent." Anzu teased, opening her menu.

Serenity smirked at Ryou and he blushed and looked away from her.

"Not quite. He practically had some girl last night throwing herself on him."

Ryou cleared his throat lightly and gave her a warning glimpse. Her smirk grew.

"Oh, hey, isn't that her now?" She asked, pointing at the girl from earlier who was with the same guy as before. She realized that they must be related.

Ryou turned and nodded.

"Yeah, that's her."

Someone gasped and then Kylie was racing over to their table.

"Ryou! I was hoping to see you this morning! I have to cancel today. My brother's forcing me to stay with him. He says he can't trust some random guy I just met last night."

"Why don't you have breakfast with us, then?" Serenity offered, smiling.

Ryou's eyes widened, seeing the potential mischievousness behind her gratitude. He didn't have time to warn Kylie, however, as she pulled a chair next to him and plopped down in it.

"Thanks! So, what's good to eat in Japan?"

Ryou handed her his menu and stole Serenity's, making the younger girl pout. She knew he knew her game.

"You know, that's a good question. Last time I was here, I never ate out." Malik mused, flipping through the menu (which he couldn't read in the first place).

Anzu took the menu from him and gave it to Serenity.

"You can't read Japanese, smart one." She said sharply.

Malik grinned.

"Then why don't you read the menu _for_ me?" He joked, simply wishing to irritate her.

"How 'bout I order for both of you. You guys aren't vegetarian, are you?"

Malik raised his hand slightly.

"Guilty as charged."

"How about you?" Anzu asked pointedly, staring at Kylie.

"Nope. I love meat. Hit with the best. I'm only here for the culture shock."

"Good. Malik, I'll get you the vegetarian breakfast."

"And that would be?"

Anzu smirked.

"A muffin."

* * *

Somehow, Kylie had managed to persuade her brother to let her go with Ryou all day. All day. To Ryou's credit, he had a smile on his face whenever anyone saw him. 

Opening ceremonies were held in a building near Harajuku, so while everyone competing in the tournament were stuck inside, the rest of the gang went to the Harajuku district, known as the most popular teen shopping center in all of Tokyo.

Anzu gasped and pulled Serenity towards a shop called Omotesando Hills.

"I heard about this place! It's the newest shop in town!"

Ryou and Kylie jogged to keep up, following the two girls into the air conditioned store. Anzu and Serenity snatched up random articles of clothing and headed straight for the fitting rooms. Kylie didn't hesitate in doing the same.

Ryou groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"I should've entered that damn tournament…"

The three girls came parading out, dressed in the most extravagant outfits he'd ever seen. Anzu had even added a feather boa to her 'fruits' look. Serenity giggled at Ryou's horrorstruck face and spun around, her neon yellow skirt floating up and twisting with her.

"You think I'll get his attention if I wear this?" She asked, giggling.

"You'll do more than get his attention if you keep twirling like that…" Anzu teased.

"Yeah…I don't even know who you're talking about, but you could catch anyone's eye in that."

Ryou nodded in agreement.

"It's quite blinding."

Serenity laughed.

"Back to the fitting rooms!"

* * *

Yugi shook hands with another dueler and they parted ways, Yugi marginally happier. Honda slapped his back. 

"Way to go!"

"Thanks! D'you know where Jou is?"

"Naw…I think he went to find everyone else."

"Oh, they were going to Harajuku to shop."

They were silent for a few minutes, idly walking around the city looking for lunch.

"Poor Ryou." They chorused.

* * *

"Oh, there's Yugi! Anzu, go get them!" Serenity said, pushing Anzu off the end of the booth. 

Anzu scoffed and pulled Serenity along with her. Together they waved down Honda and Yugi.

Jou, back at the restaurant table, could only stare at the two girls in shock. He'd never seen anyone wear something so…blinding. Anzu and Serenity were sporting matching yellow skirts and randomly colored t-shirts.

Ryou noticed Jou staring and chuckled.

"You shoulda seen what they tried on at the store…it was ten times worse."

Jou didn't have time to ask why (he didn't think he really wanted to know anyway) as the girls sat back down, making room for Yugi and Honda.

"You guys order yet?" Yugi questioned, stealing Jou's menu.

"Just drinks and appetizers."

Yugi's stomach growled loudly and he absent-mindedly rubbed it.

"Thank God, I'm starving. By the way, nice skirts."

Serenity and Anzu beamed.

"You should _see_ the store we bought them at! Half of it is for cosplaying and the other half is the funkiest styles _ever_."

"And that was only the first floor! Three of the floors are underground, and it's all cafes, beauty salons, and restaurants!" Serenity continued.

"The top floor is all apartments and the second floor is more clothes. It was amazing." Anzu finished, sighing in contented awe.

Ryou and Yugi exchanged looks and Yugi grinned.

"Sounds fun. What'd _you_ do, Bakura?"

Ryou shrugged.

"I got to rate the outfits. They tried to make me dress up as Neo, but…"

The three girls giggled to themselves and launched into a description of Ryou's reaction to the Matrix outfit.

* * *

Grampa laughed heartily, watching the teens trudge into the hotel complaining about their sore feet. 

"No more. I'm dropping out tomorrow. That was killer…" Jou whined, pressing the button for the elevator.

Serenity rolled her eyes.

"We didn't come up here just so you could drop out."

"Who's dropping out?"

Serenity jumped nearly a foot and whirled around. Malik's eyes danced with amusement.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"No, I'm okay. Umh…I just didn't…I mean…how'd you do today?"

"Uh, well, three wins and one loss. Except the loss wasn't really fair…the other guy cheated."

"You didn't do anything about it?"

Malik shook his head.

"Nah, wasn't worth it. Besides, he was three times my size."

Serenity laughed.

Jou rolled his eyes and pulled her into the elevator.

"You going up?" He growled.

"Yeah, for a second," he said, stepping in with them. "I've just gotta grab a jacket and I'm heading out for dinner."

"Are you going by yourself?"

"No, Ryou and his new girlfriend invited me to go with them. Uh, you guys are welcome to join us."

"Sure!"

"Can't. I've got some stuff to do."

Serenity shot a glare at her brother then smiled at Malik.

"I'll go. Should I ask if anyone else wants to come?"

"If you want."

The elevator doors slid open and they headed towards their rooms. Malik slid his card into the scanner and opened his door.

"By the way, Serenity, nice skirt."

Her cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

"Thanks." She whispered to a closed door.

It didn't matter if he'd heard her or not. There were more important things to think about. Like that he knew her name and he liked her skirt.

Jou snorted, interrupting her train of thought.

"Have fun tonight. And _don't_ tell Dad I let you go without me."

Serenity nodded and unlocked her door.

"My lips are sealed."

"Good."

The door had barely closed when Anzu came trumping in with a brand new hat on.

"Look what I found! Isn't it just adorable?"

Serenity giggled and pulled the hat off.

"You look like a chauffeur."

"Oh, thanks. Hey, where're you going?"

Serenity slid her arms through her jacket's sleeves and beamed at Anzu.

"Out to dinner with Ryou, Kylie, and Malik."

Anzu gaped.

"Way to go, girl!"

Serenity laughed and stepped back out into the hallway. Malik was waiting for her.

"You ready? We're meeting Ryou and Kylie down in the lobby."

"Umh, yeah. Let's go."

After the most uncomfortable elevator ride of her life, Serenity found herself linked by the arm to Kylie who had officially announced that she was Ryou's girlfriend.

"Thanks for letting me go with you guys." Serenity said.

"Don't worry about it, babe! I didn't really wanna get stuck with these two anyways."

Serenity relaxed, letting Kylie lead the conversation as they walked to a burger joint a few blocks away. Kylie squealed when she saw the restaurant.

"O-M-G, it's a 50's diner! I had no idea they _had_ these in Japan! Hold on, this is a picture moment."

She grabbed Ryou and pulled her digital camera out of her purse. She held the camera out, making sure the diner was in the background, then took the picture. She brought the camera back and held it in front of Ryou as they walked into the restaurant. He laughed and showed the camera screen to Malik and Serenity.

"Awesome." He said.

Serenity and Malik studied the screen for a moment before doubling over in laughter.

"Holy crap, is that a guy or a girl?" Serenity asked, trying to see the background of the picture better.

Kylie took back the camera and zoomed into the background.

"I would have to say…cross dresser. Ew! He's picking his nose, too!"

A hostess wearing a short skirt and blouse came up to them, ignoring their laughter.

"Four?"

"Yup."

"Right this way."

She led them to a table near the juke box and handed them their menus.

"Your server will be right with you."

"Thanks."

She left and the four of them opened their menus. However, only two of them could read it.

"Who makes an all-English menu in _Japan_?" Malik muttered, squinting down at the strange symbols.

Serenity shrugged and tried to remember everything she'd learned so far in her English class.

"I recognize a few words…"

She looked over at Kylie to ask for help, but found that Kylie was engrossed in pointing to something on Ryou's menu. Ryou laughed and shook his head.

"I'm a vegetarian, Ky! I can't get a BLT!"

Kylie pouted.

"But I won't be able to eat it all by myself!"

Ryou turned his head to look at her and smiled.

"Share with Serenity. I'm sure she hasn't ever had one before."

Kylie pretended to growl at him but he only chuckled at her and went back to skimming his menu. Kylie sighed and grabbed Serenity's hand.

"Will _you_ share with me?"

"Sure. I can't read all this anyways."

"Sweet! What about you?"

Malik shook his head.

"Can't read a word of this…uh, these _are_ words, right?"

"Mmhmm! You're vegetarian too, right?"

"Right."

"You're not, like, Vegan, right?"

"No, I just don't eat any meat."

"Fish?"

"Sometimes."

She picked up her menu again.

"All right…let's see…no…no…oh, gross…no…umh, there's a salad."

Ryou rolled his eyes.

"You can get what I'm getting."

"What're you getting?"

"A Vegwich."

Malik managed to turn his incredulous laugh into a cough.

"They're, uh…creative with their names, aren't they?"

Kylie grinned.

"That's Americans for ya. Have you ever been?"

"I went once when I was fourteen." Ryou replied.

Serenity shook her head.

"I've never been, but I was looking at art universities over there."

"Really? Which ones?"

"DePaul, Rice, and Berkley."

"DePaul's nice, as long as you don't mind the city. I've been looking at art schools too."

"Do you draw?" Serenity asked quickly.

Kylie laughed.

"Oh yeah, I'm an original Picasso! Not really. I just play ten different instruments."

"Seriously?" Malik asked, stealing the words straight from Serenity's mouth.

"Just about. Piano, violin, harp, guitar, cello, flute, and timpani. Oh, I've also had a little experience with a glockenspiel."

Before Malik could explain his sudden laughter, the waitress appeared by their table and asked for their drink orders.

"Ooh, do you have the Shamrock shakes here?" Kylie asked.

"Yes we do! Would you like one?"

"I would _love_ one."

"All right. And you, miss?"

"I'll have the same, thanks."

"Oh, can we get chili fries?" Kylie asked, cutting off Ryou before he could order his drink.

"Sure thing. What would you like, darling?" She asked Ryou.

"Raspberry tea."

"Oh, good choice. How about you?"

"Umh…"

"We have Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Root Beer. We also have iced tea, lemon iced tea, raspberry tea, apple blossom tea, and earl grey."

Malik stared at the woman in awe.

"Did you memorize that or something? I mean, that was amazing!"

The waitress smiled innocently.

"Honey, I've worked here for years. You learn these types of things quickly. What'll it be?"

"Apple blossom."

"You got it. I'll be right back."

Once she left, Ryou got out of the booth and dug around his pocket for some change.

"What d'you need?" Kylie asked, opening her purse.

"I'm not sure if it takes yen or American money."

Kylie squinted at the juke box and grinned.

"Quarters. Here, I have a ton."

She handed him a handful of quarters and Ryou made his way over to the juke box to choose a list of songs.

"Malik, right?" Kylie asked.

Malik nodded, messing with the table cloth.

"Yeah?"

"You laughed earlier when I said I played the glockenspiel."

"Oh, yeah, my best friend and I have a huge joke about the glockenspiel."

"Who's your best friend?" Serenity implored.

"Ryou's, umh, twin brother."

"There's _two_ of him?" Kylie gasped, fanning herself with her hand.

Malik grimaced.

"Trust me, they're completely different. Although, Bakura swears he's better looking than Ryou…"

Serenity burst out laughing.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah! He called me last week to talk crap about something to do with Ryou's best friend, and he randomly mentioned that he couldn't understand it seeing as he's, and I quote, 'ten times sexier than that nancy'."

Ryou slid back into his seat as a classic rock song started playing.

"Juke boxes don't like me."

Kylie grabbed his hand.

"You never told me you had a twin! How come?"

Ryou winced.

"I don't talk about him a lot."

"Wait, you didn't leave him at the Mutou's, did you?" Serenity questioned.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, uh, you left him _alone_ at the Mutou's house, which would include a _kitchen_ and various other fire-starting objects. You get where I'm going with this yet?"

"Oh, yeah, I know. Yugi said he didn't care if the kitchen was destroyed, but if it is Bakura has to cook for him everyday for two weeks."

Malik grinned.

"He'll be on his best behavior then. He would sacrifice himself on an altar before serving _Yugi_."

"What's wrong with Yugi?"

"I think the right question is: What's wrong with Bakura?" Malik muttered.

The waitress came back with their drinks.

"The chili fries will be out in a few minutes."

"Thanks!"

A swing song came on after the rock song. Kylie gasped.

"I _love_ this song! Can you swing?" She asked.

Ryou smirked.

"You can try and keep up."

She pushed him out of the booth and dragged him closer to the juke box to swing dance. Serenity covered her face with her hands.

"I can't believe they're dancing in the middle of a restaurant." She groaned.

Malik grinned.

"I dunno. Look. There are two other couples out there…oh, I don't know if _that's_ a couple, but…"

Serenity looked and saw that Malik was right. Kylie and Ryou weren't the only ones dancing. There was a middle-aged couple and another couple that might have been a guy with a cross dresser, or a guy with a very ugly woman. Serenity settled for the latter and drew her sketch pencil from her purse. Still watching the dancing couples, she began to sketch them on a napkin. Malik watched her hand fly across the napkin with avid interest.

Serenity looked down at her napkin and added a few small details to the sketch. She smiled and put the pencil away. Malik slid the napkin closer to himself and gawked.

"Can I keep this?"

Serenity blushed.

"Uh…I guess."

"Hey, you promised me that you'd draw something for me."

"I can redo that in my sketch book, if you want."

"No, this one's perfect. You're really talented, Serenity."

She had to quell a sudden urge to hug him.

"Thanks! You really think so?"

"Yeah! You're awesome!"

Her smile was like a 1000-watt bulb. Malik mirrored it.

"I didn't know you were into art."

"Oh yeah! You should see my room. My sister makes fun of me 'cause I have all these abstract paintings on my wall."

She laughed easily and took a sip of her milkshake. Her attention was torn from Malik to the shake.

"Holy crap, this is good."

"What is it?"

"I think she called it a shamrock shake."

He grabbed the spoon from her shake and ate what was on it.

"Mm. You're right."

She eyed the spoon with raised eyebrows. He laughed.

"I'll wipe it off for you, okay?" He teased.

She felt her face heat up and she pulled at her jacket.

"Umh, sure."

Malik used his own napkin to wipe the spoon off. As he moved to put the spoon back, Serenity leaned forward to get her jacket off. His arm collided with her neck and she gasped. His eyes widened and the spoon clattered to the table.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

She held her throat with her hand, her eyes streaming.

"Fine." She choked out, massaging her throat.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Do you need ice or something?"

She managed a laugh and smiled at him.

"I'm fine. Really."

"You sure?" He asked, smiling sheepishly.

"Yep."

He sighed.

"Way to make an impression, huh? I've known you for one whole day and I've managed to impair you."

She sniggered and he grinned down at her.

The air grew tense and Serenity gulped, her smile fading. He held her gaze with intense force and bit his lip. Her eyes flickered to his lips and he didn't miss it.

"Umh…"

* * *

**Yay! Cliffhanger: You know you love me.**

**Okay, now for the vocab! Haha, just in case you guys were a little lost, I'll clarify some things for you.**

**Omotesando Hills:** It IS a real store in the Harajuku district. I've never been in it, but it sounds wicked cool.

**Cosplaying:** Costume playing. Easy enough.

'**Fruits':** A type of clothingstyle in Japan. You pick a theme and go all out. Usually the themes are odd and 'bright'. The opposite of Goth. You get the idea.

* * *

**Right. Disclaimer: **I don't own Ruby's Diner, nor do I own the Matrix (wouldn't want to either, it was confusing as hell) of the Vegwich. That would belong to Ruby's. Along with the Shamrock Shake.

**Just a little side-note:** Don't you love it when you ask a waitress what they have to drink and they just spew off the list of drinks so fast you have to ask them to repeat it? Haha, it makes me laugh all the time! Watch, next time you go to a restaurant and the waitress spits off the list of drinks, you'll laugh. I guarantee it.

**Please read and review! **


	6. Morning Mishaps

**Chapter 6: Morning Mishaps**

Serenity's eyes flickered to his lips and he didn't miss it.

"Umh…"

He drew in a sharp breath and turned away, mentally cursing himself. He cleared his head with a sip of tea and stared down at the table.

Serenity, feeling suddenly queasy, reached into her purse to try and find a pain reliever.

"I'll be back in a minute." Malik murmured, getting up and heading for the restrooms.

Serenity slapped a palm to her forehead.

"God, how stupid!"

Kylie came bounding back into her seat, giggling and flushed. Ryou sat down after her.

"That was so much fun! What else am I going to learn about you tonight? You can sing, you can dance, and you can resist three girls trying to make you cosplay. You're an enigma."

Ryou laughed.

"Hardly! Oh, hey, where's Malik?"

"Restroom." Serenity mumbled, popping a Tylenol into her mouth and stealing Ryou's tea to swallow it with.

"You all right?"

"Oh, yeah, fine." She said, her voice a higher pitch than normal.

Kylie and Ryou exchanged knowing grins.

"What happened between you and Malik?"

"Nothing," sighed Serenity, picking up her spoon from the table and using it to take a scoop of her shake.

She nearly choked on it when Malik sat back down looking upset. He'd been the last person to eat off it. He sent her a wary glance.

"Hey, I wiped it off." He said.

She fought her grin.

"I know, it's my throat that's bugging menow."

He snorted.

"I see how it is…"

* * *

The four of them walked slowly down the hallway towards their rooms. 

"No, it isn't! It's our choice!" Ryou argued.

"Yeah, I really don't like the taste of meat." Malik added.

Kylie and Serenity glanced at each other in exasperation.

"I'm sure there's one meat we could get you into. I mean, seriously, you turned green when you saw the chili fries."

"No, I turned green when you started eating them like there was no tomorrow."

Kylie, looking offended, crossed her arms over her chest.

"I like chili fries! So sue me!"

"Whatever."

"Seriously, though, it's not some kind of animal rights thing. We just don't like meat."

"Yeah, well it makes you one hell of a dinner guest. What if you're at a party and all they have is meat?"

Ryou grinned.

"I politely tell them I'm not feeling well."

Serenity snorted.

"That's lame, Ryou."

"Maybe, but it works every time."

"Ryou!" Kylie gasped, surprised at him.

He laughed and knocked on his door. Jou opened it and looked pointedly at Serenity.

"You haven't been raped, drugged, or drunk, right?" He asked.

She scowled and chose not to answer him.

"Good night, brother."

Jou cut his eyes at her and disappeared inside his room. Ryou shrugged.

"Sorry, Serenity. I'll try and talk some sense into him."

"Thanks, Ryou…"

He smiled.

"No problem."

"G'night, you guys. I'll see you tomorrow, right Ky?"

Kylie nodded and hugged Serenity.

"Of course! I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Okay."

"'Night, Serenity!" Kylie chirped.

"G'night, Serenity." Ryou said at the same time.

Serenity smiled at them and went back to her door.

"Umh…"

She looked up at Malik blankly.

"Yeah?"

"I…uh…I'm really sorry about…I mean, I don't know what came over me and I really hope…"

Her eyebrows rose. He sighed in defeat.

"Can you forgive me?"

She lifted a shoulder.

"Yeah, sure. Why not? I've only known you for a day."

Malik caught the edge in her voice and put his hand on her arm.

"Please don't be angry at me, I'm just…I was just…I dunno."

She felt her disappointment ebb away into amusement. Malik was tongue-tied.

"You were what?"

"Umh…caught up?"

"What?"

"I was just caught up…in the…"

She stared at him.

"In the moment?"

"Yeah. Yeah, in the moment. You know, all the dancing people, and…and you, and…the drawing on the napkin. I just never really thought about what—what I was doing." He stammered, avoiding her gaze.

"What _were_ you doing?"

His eyes widened as he looked down at her.

"Uh, I was…"

He jumped and reached into his jacket pocket for his ringing cell phone. He looked between it and Serenity.

"I'm sorry, I have to answer it. She'll kill me if I don't."

She nodded coldly, leaning against her door to wait.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked into the mouthpiece.

He waited while his sister answered and sighed.

"Yeah, it's okay. I just talked to him last night and he said…"

Serenity watched as his face paled.

"You're kidding."

There was a short pause and anguish filled his eyes.

"Oh my God…I'll get a plane ticket and come home. No, it's okay, it doesn't matter—Isis, this is more important! I'll be home tomorrow. I'll call you before I leave."

He flipped his cell phone shut and stared at his reflection on the cover.

"What happened?"

He jumped.

"Huh? Oh, my brother…umh, he's hurt. Look, I gotta go get a plane ticket. Thanks for dinner tonight."

"Oh, umh, no problem. Good luck."

"Thanks. G'night."

"Yeah. G'night."

He left her alone in the hallway and she slumped to the ground, her back against the door. She gathered the bottom of her skirt and pulled her knees up to her chin.

Ryou came around the corner, having escorted Kylie to her room, and sat down beside Serenity.

"What're you depressed about?" He asked.

"He's leaving tomorrow. His brother got hurt."

Ryou frowned and patted her knee.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Even as she said the words, she knew it wasn't. They'd ended on a bad note and she couldn't help but feel entirely responsible.

Ryou handed her a handkerchief and she dabbed at the tears that were coursing down her cheeks.

"You'll be all right. You tried."

She hiccupped and leaned on him. He allowed her to, silently wondering what had caused her reaction.

"Ryou, I don't know what happened. He used to be…so much more self-assured."

"He's, uh, changed since Battle City. He's been able to get over a lot of stuff and he's been _happy_. He might've lost that super ego, but at least he can laugh now."

She sighed.

"I guess…but he also stumbles all over himself when he's trying to apologize. He should've just left it at 'sorry'."

"Apologize? For what?"

"I'm not sure if he was apologizing for almost kissing me or for _not_ kissing me."

"Wait, when did…? Ohh! When we were dancing!" He breathed, slapping his forehead.

"Mmhmm."

Ryou rubbed her back lightly.

"God, I wish I'd have known. I'm so sorry, Serenity."

"It's okay."

She believed herself that time. She would be okay knowing that her first kiss had _almost_ been with Malik Ishtar. And, she figured, she still had time to get back into his good graces. She just had to catch him before he left in the morning. Or…something…

She gasped and sat up straight.

"Oh, duh!"

"Huh?"

Serenity pushed herself up into a standing position and helped Ryou up after her.

"I've got to draw something. See you in the morning, Ryou."

She spared him a quick one-armed hugged before unlocking her door and dashing inside to find her sketch book.

Ryou blinked as the door closed and sent a wary glance over at his own door. Deciding that Jou was probably going to throttle him for what he'd done that morning, he turned to Malik's door and knocked.

Malik opened the door and quirked his eyebrow at him.

"What's up?"

"I'm afraid Jou's going to murder me. Mind if I stay in your room?"

Malik, grinning, opened the door wider to him.

"Don't mind at all. Why's he going to kill you?"

"Because I let you sit with Serenity where he couldn't see."

"So…?"

Ryou sighed.

"He's jealous 'cause of this art project…"

"That's not normal."

"Sure it is. She was supposed to draw someone she cared about."

"What, did it not look like him?"

"No, it looked remarkably like you." Ryou muttered.

Ryou watched Malik's expression go from confused to understanding.

"Oh, hell, Ryou…I'm such a bastard!"

* * *

Serenity smiled at her sketch and glanced at her clock. It was past midnight, but she could hear mumbled voices through the wall and knew he was still awake. She carefully tore the sketch from the book and tip-toed over to the door that joined their rooms together. She slid the paper under the door halfway and nearly screamed in shock when someone on the other side of the door grabbed it. She placed her hand over her racing heart and sat back on her heels. 

She was waiting for a few minutes, then another piece of paper came under the door. She took it and read the short message:

_I'm leaving at 6. Meet me for breakfast?_

Shakily, she wrote back one word and put the paper under the door. It came back quickly reading:

_5 AM in the lobby. I'll meet you there.

* * *

_

Serenity looked at the clock beside her bed and sighed. She had slept intermittently for the past three hours and yet she still had another hour to wait before her alarm was set to go off.

She tried fluffing her pillow, pulling the blankets up more, flipping over to her other side, then flipping again to her stomach. She groaned in defeat and got out of bed. She picked up her sketch book and pencil and sat beside the window to capture whatever natural light there was at half past 3.

* * *

Serenity got into the elevator alone, yawning, and dead on her feet from exhaustion. Yet she still checked her makeup on the reflective walls of the elevator. The letter 'L' on the grill lit up and the elevator dinged quietly. Taking a deep breath to calm herself (and stop herself from yawning again), she stepped out into the lobby. 

There he was, sitting with his luggage at his feet and his cell phone dangling from his fingertips. It took her a second glance to see the bags under his eyes, indicating that he had slept just as well as she had.

"Good morning." She murmured.

He looked up at her and quickly got to his feet.

"'Morning. Umh…"

"When do you, uh, have to leave?"

"The taxi's coming at ten to six."

"Oh, well…I guess we should eat quickly."

Malik forced a small smile and motioned for her to go first towards the restaurant. He followed after her, pulling his suitcases with him.

"How many?"

"Two, please." Serenity replied to the host.

"Right this way."

They were seated in the nearly empty restaurant, save for two other diners who looked as if they were about to pass out in their food. Serenity giggled to herself when she saw them and realized that Malik and she probably looked the same way.

"What…?" Malik trailed, following Serenity's gaze to the couple.

"I was wondering if we look worse or better than them." She explained, still grinning about it.

Malik looked confused and Serenity sighed.

"Sorry. It's the lack of sleep talking."

"Oh," he chuckled, "me too. Ryou slept fine, but I was awake all night worried about…"

"Your brother?"

"Yeah, and…and you. Umh, Ryou told me about the art project."

Her cheeks burned bright red.

"Oh, God, you probably think I'm crazy, huh? I mean, I barely _know_ you and here I am drawing _you_ instead of Jou, and then he got angry and so did Honda, and now he's angry at me again even though I ripped the drawing, and I think it's because I like you so much and he doesn't 'cause you tried to kill Yugi—don't get me wrong, I didn't like you very much either when you tried to do that, but now you've changed and—!"

Malik held up and hand to stop her.

"Hold on, Serenity. You're rambling and I really only understood one sentence."

She gulped.

"Which one?"

"'It's because I like you so much'."

She groaned.

"Did I really say that out loud? I didn't mean to…"

"I figured. Look, I'm sorry that everyone reacted that way, especially your brother. I know he means the world to you—"

"Not at the moment, he doesn't."

Malik rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Don't push him away, Serenity. Trust me. I know how hard it is to try and pull them back."

"I'm not—I mean, I'm just a little peeved 'cause he's…"

"Trying to protect you. I know. I'm the youngest too, remember? You're lucky you only have one older sibling trying to protect you. I've got _two_."

Serenity bit back a grin. She really couldn't imagine Malik being coddled and protected by his sister and brother. Then again, she'd heard enough of his phone conversations with Isis to know that he was speaking the truth.

"You have my sympathy." She replied.

Their conversation was interrupted by a waiter bringing them water and asking for drink orders. Once he was gone, Malik directed his attention back to Serenity.

"What I was trying to say was that I'm really sorry all your friends were angry at you, and I…well, when Ryou told me you drew me, I was…really…happy."

She choked on the sip of water she'd taken. After managing to swallow the water instead of breathing it, she turned her wide eyes on Malik.

"Really? But…but last night you—"

"Made a mistake. I tried to blame it on that skirt you were wearing (it's very distracting), but it was my fault for leading you on. I don't want to leave on a bad note. I want the right to say that I had a good time and made the right choices. I'm hoping that I can fix last night's mistake withthis morning."

Serenity nodded.

"You're about halfway through fixing it."

He grinned.

"Do I have to keep on going to fix the other half?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "You just have to pay the bill."

Malik chuckled and took a gulp of water.

"Done."

"And you have to trust me to order you breakfast."

He blanched.

"Serenity, if you get something with meat in it—"

She cut him off with laughter.

"No! I'm not going to reform you _yet_. I've heard this place has the _best_ crepes in all of Japan."

"I would hope so, since that's a French food." He muttered.

She giggled as the waiter returned with their drinks.

"Are you ready to order?"

"Yes. We're going to share the strawberry crepes. And can you split it into two plates?"

"Yes ma'am. Is that all?"

"Yes sir." Malik replied curtly, looking at the waiter with mock innocence.

Serenity gave him a look, but the waiter didn't seem to notice as he moved on to the other table. Malik grinned to himself.

"Sorry. It bugs me when waiters do that."

"Do what?"

"Call everyone 'sir' or 'ma'am'. It's too formal for _this_ restaurant. Especially at 5:30 in the morning."

Serenity rolled her eyes and took a small sip of her coffee. She nearly spit it out.

"Crap. Forgot to put cream and sugar in." She mumbled, reaching for the small basin of creamer.

Malik's shoulders shook with silent laughter and she looked up at him inquiringly.

"What? Are you laughing at me?"

He nodded, then thought better of it andquickly shook his head.

"Kind of. The face you made when you tasted the black coffee…" He trailed off into a snigger.

She stuck her tongue out at him and mixed in sugar with her coffee.

"It was disgusting." She said simply, using the end of her spoon to stir the murky brown liquid.

He put his fist up to his mouth to hold back any slips of mirth and she sighed.

"You can laugh out loud. It's not a crime. Besides, Ryou said..."

Malik sobered quickly when she mentioned Ryou and he leaned forward an inch.

"What'd he say?"

She stared into the steam rising from her cup.

"He said that after Battle City, you could laugh again. I kind of took his word for it since he knows you better than me—"

"No, he's right. If I laughed before or during Battle City, it was a bad omen. For the good side, at least."

She met his gaze with confusion.

"Good side?"

"That would be Yugi and company."

"Oh! Jeez, I really _am_ tired."

He smiled.

"So am I. Like I said, I was up all night by the phone."

"Is your brother really hurt that badly?"

He nodded and glanced up at the approaching waiter.

"Car accident. Isis wasn't in the car, thank God, but if she had been, she wouldn't be here today."

The waiter set the two plates of crepes down in front of them and wished them a happy eating and disappeared into the kitchen again.

"What happened?"

"Well, they were driving up to Cairo from Luxor and they stopped so Isis could use the bathroom. While she was in the bathroom, another car lost control and swerved into the passenger side of the car."

"Oh my God." She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Isis was calling from the hospital last night. He's fine, he's just…well…you know. He looks like he ran into a gang or something."

"Is Isis okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. They treated her for shock and let her stay overnight at the hospital."

"Oh, thank God. So who's picking you up from the airport?"

"Oh, Isis' boyfriend. He's actually studying in Cairo, so he was the first choice."

"Studying…what?"

"Anthropology or something. He's in his last year of college and decided to study abroad. Cairo University took him for the year."

"Well, that would make sense, right? I mean, Egypt is a really good place to go if you want to be an archaeologist. All the unburied tombs and such…"

Malik frowned.

"That's what _he_ says. But we get enough tourists down in that area to last us a lifetime. I think it's time someone stayed with the Mayan temples for a few decades and fill in all of history's holes."

Serenity giggled and forked a strawberry off his plate. His jaw dropped slightly and he used his fork to try and get it back.

"Food stealer!" He accused, managing to hit the strawberry off her fork and onto her plate.

"Whatever! You got _all_ the strawberries!"

"And they're gonna stay on my plate." He retorted, picking up the strawberry from her plate with his fork and dropping it into his mouth before she could say another word about it.

"That's what you think."

She stole another one and quickly ate it.

"Ha!"

He scowled playfully and stole a bite of her last crepe.

"Hey! Oh, now it's on!"

For a few minutes, they stole each others food like there was no tomorrow and laughed like it was the most fun they'd ever had.

Then they ran out of food.

The waiter whisked the plates away with a look of disdain at their childish behavior and didn't say a word when he dropped off the bill.

Malik and Serenity sniggered once he was out of earshot.

"Like he's got anything better to do than clean up our mess…" Malik joked.

Serenity burst out laughing and wiped a splatter of whipped cream off the flowers in the middle of the table.

Malik looked over the bill and pulled out his wallet to pay for it. He marked how much tip was to be given (he was generous, considering the waiter had put up with them) and set the little black folder on the edge of the table for the waiter to pick up. Then he helped Serenity clean up the mess on and around the table.

The waiter took the bill and returned a moment later with the leftover change.

"Have a good day." He said stiffly.

Serenity giggled and got out of her seat, Malik following quickly on her heels with his luggage in tow.

Once they were back out in the lobby, Malik checked the time on his cell phone and grimaced.

"My taxi's going to be here in a minute. Will you, umh, wait with me?"

She smiled.

"Sure. I think you made all the right choices this morning."

He caught her meaning and flashed her a broad grin.

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'd hate to leave you angry at me."

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't quite sure why I was angry at you. I just…was." She murmured, her nose scrunched in uncertainty.

"I was angry at myself. I'm sure you had the same reason as me…whatever that reason is." He said, grinning.

They stepped out of the lobby and into the morning fog outside. A taxi pulled up and parked by the curb. The driver got out and looked to Malik questioningly. Malik nodded and handed his luggage off to him.

"Oh!" Serenity gasped, grabbing Malik's arm. "Hold on, I drew something for you this morning when I couldn't sleep!"

He glanced hesitantly at the driver, but he was too busy stuffing the bags into the trunk to care what Malik was doing.

Serenity dug through her canvas bag and withdrew her sketch book. She flipped it open and Malik caught flashes of her other sketches as she whisked through the pages until she found the right one.

It was a drawing of a tree. It was small and weak, but the iron gate surrounding it contradicted the frailty of the tree. She carefully tore the sketch out and handed it to him.

"It's what I can see out my hotel window. I don't know why it caught my attention, but…there it is."

He nodded, examining the tree with careful consideration.

"I saw this too. I wondered why they kept it out here. It looks like it's going to die."

"Of course it won't!" She laughed, causing Malik to look very perplexed.

She pointed to the iron gate.

"That gate keeps it strong. It keeps it from being killed by life."

And suddenly he understood the metaphor of the tree he was holding in his hands. It wasn't just a weak tree, it was Serenity; her very essence. And he'd never felt more proud to be part of an iron gate.

"I get it. But Serenity, you can't be this tree."

Her eyes widened.

"I can't what?"

"You can't be this tree. This tree is too fragile to be you. You're…you're…"

"Malik, it's just a tree." She murmured.

He shook his head.

"No it's not. This tree caught your attention because you can relate to it."

"Hey, buddy! Let's get going! It's an hour drive to the airport!" The cab driver called, leaning out of the driver's side door.

Malik bit his lip and looked back at the driver.

"Can you wait just one second? This is important."

"Yeah, you've got two minutes before I toss your crap out of the trunk and leave!"

Serenity scowled.

"Just calm down! This won't take more than two minutes." She snapped.

The driver rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, lady."

He slammed the door shut and started the cab.

Malik took a deep breath and stared down at Serenity.

"Serenity, this tree is _you_. That gate is your friends, your family. You think this is what you are, but you're not! You're not a dying tree in a city, you're an…oak! You're an oak. Strong, tall—well, okay, you're not very tall, but that's not the point—!"

Serenity's laugh made him stop.

"Okay, I get it. The tree isn't me. But you're still the gate."

His breath caught.

"The—the _whole_ gate? But I thought—"

"No, that was the only deeper meaning. You're the gate."

A smile slowly worked its way upon his lips.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

But before he could answer, the doors to the hotel burst open and Jou came out leading the pack. Anzu's eyes were red as if she'd been crying and Yugi and Honda just looked terrified.

"Where have you _been?_ We've been worried sick! Anzu hasn't stopped crying for half an hour and—!"

Serenity shook her head and looked back at Malik, letting her brother ramble.

"Thanks for what?"

The cab driver pulled the taxi out of park and revved the engine as a warning. Malik hesitated.

"Thanks for letting me be your gate."

She smiled.

"You're welcome."

Ryou came flying out after the group and stepped in front of Jou.

"Don't you _dare_, Jounouchi! Think about what _she_ wants for once!" He said, pushing Jou back.

Jou glared at Ryou and pushed back.

"Don't get in my way, Bakura! No way in hell am I letting her see _him_!"

Malik glanced between the cab, Jou, and Serenity.

"I have to go. Here. Call me."

He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and shoved it into her hand. She gasped.

"But—"

"I really want to hear from you. Tell me who wins this thing."

"O-okay, but—"

"And I missed my chance to do this last night." He finished, pulling her in by her wrist and pressing his lips to hers.

Jou froze and Ryou dared to look around at Serenity and Malik. He smiled at what he saw, but he was knocked to the ground a second later. Desperately, he grabbed Jou's ankle. Jou kicked him off and rushed towards Serenity and Malik.

Malik pulled away and touched her cheek.

"Call me." He mumbled.

She nodded, her eyes closed.

Malik yanked open the cab door and jumped inside moments before Jou could rip him limb from limb. Jou seized Serenity's arm roughly and shook her so that her eyes snapped open.

"Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going this morning? We thought you'd been abducted—"

"I knew."

Jou swiveled on his heel and stared at Ryou incredulously.

"You _knew_ she was going to meet that scumbag this morning?"

Ryou frowned and stood up, keeping his weight off his left ankle.

"No. I knew she was going to meet Malik this morning. I had no idea that she was meeting a scumbag."

Serenity lit up and jerked her arm away from Jou's grip. She went to Ryou's side and helped him stand.

"Thanks for, umh, everything." She whispered, glancing down at his ankle.

"Oh, no problem. I play match maker every day." He replied sarcastically.

She giggled.

"You should sit down and get that ankle checked out."

"Well, if Malik hadn't run for his life, he would've been able to fix it in a heartbeat." Ryou grumbled, using Serenity as a crutch on their walk back inside the hotel.

"Oh…really?"

"Yeah, he wants to go into medicine someday. He uses his friends and family as practice."

Serenity, feeling light a giddy from her first kiss, just chuckled and kept him moving towards the elevator.

Once she had him safely inside the elevator, she closed the doors so the rest couldn't follow them.

"So…what happened this morning?" Ryou asked.

She pressed the button for their floor and shrugged.

"We fixed problems, stole food, and shared a picture."

"Stole food? From where?" He gasped.

She grinned.

"Each others plates. Where did you think?"

Ryou glanced up at the mirror ceiling and sighed in relief.

"I thought he might've turned you into a convict."

She laughed and shook her head.

"No, but he did teach me something."

"Hmm?"

"He taught me why I love trees." She giggled.

Ryou's eyebrow rose in silent questioning of her sanity.

"I didn't know you loved trees."

"Well, not trees exactly. I love the metaphors they come with."

"Ah. Now it makes perfect sense." He said, rolling his eyes.

The doors slid open and she helped him out into the hallway.

"You and all my other friends and family are trees to me. You're always there and always solid. I wouldn't be here right now if it hadn't been for you guys. Therefore, you are a tree. As is everyone else that came with us."

"What about Malik?"

"Oh, yes," she giggled, "he's not exactly a tree. You see, he's my iron gate."

Ryou decided to leave it alone, figuring that she was just tired and excited that she'd finally gotten her first kiss from the one guy she'd wanted it from.

"Well, I hope you had fun with your iron gate this morning."

"Yup! Oh, that's what else he taught me."

"What?" He asked warily.

"He's a _great_ kisser."

* * *

**Yay! It's almost the end! But it's not! (Insert laughing emoticon here) I'm thinking two or three more chapters to go, including an epilogue. I know this is really short, but c'mon, think about it. The tournament was only two days. I'm surprised I stretched it out this far!**

**So, the next chapter will include the last day of the tournament and the ride home. Hopefully. It may include more, since I've decided that each chapter will be ten pages at the least. (Insert smiling emoticon) (Fanfiction sure is cracking down on the use of emoticons, eh? lol)**

**I hope everyone understood all that metaphor jumble…I had to put it in here somehow…**

**Anyways, have a lovely day and please review! Thanks!**


	7. Confession

**Yeah, so, I don't feel like writing duels and whatnot. Besides, this is supposed to be focusing on Serenity, not the others. :)That's why there's no detail of the end of the tournament. You're lucky you get to find out who the winner is…**

**And oh, yes…The Kaibas finally show up in this chapter! Whoot! Go me!**

**Chapter 7: Confession**

Much to Jou's displeasure, Serenity stayed with Anzu and Kylie all day in the hotel room, giving both girls a blow-by-blow of the events of the morning. Kylie was nearly in tears when she heard about the kiss, but Anzu just scowled.

"It was barely a kiss. He was running for his life a second afterward." She snorted.

Kylie back-handed her arm.

"Shut up, Anzu, it's her first kiss! Don't you remember _yours_?"

Anzu's cheeks tinted pink and she looked away.

"Umh…yeah. Vividly."

Serenity giggled and flopped backwards on the bed, reaching into a bag of chips beside her. Her first kiss _had_ been with Malik Ishtar. She held that right.

"I remember _my_ first kiss. The whole day afterwards, I kept running into things. It was like I was walking in thick fog."

"When did you have your first kiss?" Serenity questioned curiously, offering the bag of chips to the other two.

Anzu obligingly took a handful, but Kylie just pushed them away.

"A few months ago."

Serenity swallowed her chip with some difficulty.

"What happened?"

"Oh, I caught him with another girl last week."

Serenity and Anzu glanced at each other warily and turned accusatory gazes back on Kylie. Kylie sighed and scratched her leg.

"I know what you're thinking. I'm not just using Ryou as a rebound…he already knows about my ex. He recently had a run-in with his ex-girlfriend and she was with someone else too, so…umh…I guess we're using each other."

"Oh, when he went home?" Anzu mused, looking to Serenity.

Serenity nodded slowly.

"Must be. I didn't know he'd had a girlfriend before, but, I dunno, with the way he picked _you_ up…"

Kylie laughed and popped open the lid of a soda can.

"No, honey, that was fate. We were destined to meet and help each other out of our pitiful, ruined love lives. His ex really did a number on him. You wouldn't believe it, he still carries around her picture."

"Really? Did you see it?"

"Yeah, it fell out of his wallet when he was paying for dinner last night," Kylie giggled, taking a sip of her soda. "Anyways, I can see why he was crushed. She's gorgeous."

"He's never mentioned any girls before…" Anzu trailed, suspicious.

Kylie shrugged.

"Did you ever ask?"

"Oh, great. Now I feel guilty." Serenity mumbled, reaching for another handful of chips.

"What? Why?"

"'Cause he was so nice last night, trying to make me feel better about Malik. He really cared, you know? I guess I've been taking him for granted. I never bothered to get to know him."

"Me neither. He's been part of the 'group', but he's never really been _part_ of it."

"Mmhmm!" Serenity hummed in agreement, too busy chewing on her consolation snack to use actual words.

Kylie worried her lip.

"You guys should get to know him, then. He's really amazing! He acts really shy and everything, but that's just 'cause he gets claustrophobic in large groups. If you get him alone sometime, ask him to sing for you. He's wonderful."

"He sings?" Serenity and Anzu chorused.

"Oh, yes! While he lived in Britain, he was part of a choir. That's why all his best friends are chicks! He said his brother thought he was gay because of that."

Anzu looked to the ceiling in exasperation.

"Figures Bakura would think _that_."

* * *

"No, that's _my_ bag!" 

"Nu-uh! It was sitting on _my_ bed!"

"No, you picked it up from _my_ bed, you slept on the left!"

Yugi and Ryou rolled their eyes and stepped away from Jou and Honda, who were arguing so loudly that quite a few people present in the lobby were starting to snigger.

Anzu and Serenity were waiting impatiently by the lobby doors, anxious to get home to their own rooms and luxuries. Yugi and Ryou decided the two girls would be safer than Jou and Honda, and made their way to them. However, only Yugi made it the entire way. Ryou was cut off by Kylie who wanted nothing more than to say a very non-verbal goodbye. Mothers covered their children's eyes and Serenity's eyes were so abnormally wide that Yugi feared they would never return to their original size.

Anzu began giggling and Serenity followed after her.

"Guess she wasn't kidding," Anzu gasped, trying in vain to pull her gaze away from the couple.

"You _guess_?" Serenity replied, also trying to tear away from the sight.

Yugi muttered something under his breath and turned away to look out the window.

"They're practically doing it in the lobby." He groaned, with even the tips of his ears turning a lovely shade of maroon with his embarrassment.

The girls fell into a giggle fit again.

"Kylie! God damn it, sis! Mom's gonna _freak_ when she finds out you made out with someone in public!" Kylie brother said, wrenching Kylie away from Ryou.

"Bobby, let me go!" She whined, sticking her lower lip out.

Bobby shook his hair out of his eyes and gave his sister a threatening look.

"At _least_ go somewhere more private. Don't you know that kissing someone in public in Japan is like declaring you want to get in their pants?"

Kylie giggled.

"No. That would explain the glares…"

Bobby hit his hair away and gave Ryou a furtive look. Ryou, surprising Serenity and Anzu, didn't shrink under Bobby's gaze, but nodded in recognition of him.

"Don't worry, next time I decide to snog your sister, I'll make sure it's in a broom closet."

Kylie gasped, Jou and Honda stopped fighting, Yugi burst out laughing, and Bobby almost murdered Ryou on the spot. Luckily, Grampa Mutou intervened by pulling Ryou and Jou by their jacket sleeves towards the exit. Honda, still holding Jou's suitcase, hurried after them.

It took a few minutes to find the van and load all the baggage, but it gave Kylie enough time to find them. She gave Ryou a huge hug and stole his cell phone to program her number in it.

"Thanks so much, Ry. I wouldn't have lived through this weekend without you."

Ryou smiled kindly and dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"No problem."

She beamed at him before moving on to Anzu and Serenity.

"You two are my Japanese shopping buddies from now on. And all my friends will be jealous 'cause they don't have Japanese shopping buddies." Kylie announced, making Anzu and Serenity snigger.

Anzu handed Kylie her cell phone and Kylie squealed before taking it and putting her number in.

"Oh my God, call me, okay? I _have_ to know what happens with lover boy!"

"I promise. Serenity will be calling him in the morning whether she likes it or not."

Serenity stuck her tongue out at Anzu and Anzu took no extra time to do it right back at her.

"Time to go, kids! You all have school in the morning and I've got to start working at six!" Grampa hollered, opening the driver's side door.

Kylie quickly hugged the two girls and Ryou again, for extra measure, and hurried back towards the hotel, calling out good byes to them over her shoulder.

Jou took shotgun while Yugi wasn't paying attention and locked the door behind him.

"Jou, you loser!" Yugi pouted, clambering into the back seat anyways.

Ryou, Serenity, and Anzu took the very back seat and Anzu pulled out her CD player.

"Who's up for some Malice Mizer?" Anzu asked, grinning.

Serenity nearly sucked the air out of the van and scrambled for the ear phone bud.

"_Where_ have you been hiding that CD all weekend? I've been going crazy without Malice Mizer!"

Ryou shook his head and pulled out his iPod, preferring to listen to more sensible music, such as Nemo and, his all-time favorite, the Dresden Dolls. Well, okay, so they weren't _sensible_, they just weren't J-rock. He figured there wasn't much of a difference anyways and turned up 'Girl Anachronism'.

* * *

Two hours out of Tokyo, half the occupants of the van were sound asleep and the other half were busy keeping Grampa awake. Grampa spotted a sign for a fast food restaurant on the side of the highway and changed lanes to take the next exit. 

"Bakura, wake up the girls. We're stopping to eat and stretch."

Ryou complied and nudged both girls awake (they had both fallen asleep on each other halfway through the CD).

"We're stopping for food."

"Oh," Serenity yawned, blinking her eyes a few times to clear the sleep from them.

Anzu carefully rubbed her eyes, trying not to smudge her eyeliner and mascara, and groaned something unintelligible.

"Where are we?" She asked, her voice sounding heavy with fatigue.

"Two hours out of Tokyo. If the traffic stays this good, we'll be home in three."

She leaned forward to squint at the digital clock on the dash board.

"By midnight? But that means only six hours of sleep!"

"So…?" Jou implored, twisting around to give her a dubious look.

"So?" She gasped, not believing her ears. "You need at least eight hours to stay healthy!"

Ryou suppressed a snort and patted her shoulder instead.

"I'm sure losing two hours of sleep just this once won't make you any less healthy than you are now."

"That's what _you_ think." She muttered darkly, flopping back into the seat and crossing her arms over her chest.

His eyebrows shot up.

"Trust me, I've made it on four hours or less. You'll be fine." Serenity assured, holding onto Anzu's wrist.

"Four hours?" Anzu breathed, her cheeks losing their color. "How do you survive throughout the day?"

"Umh…I just do? I dunno."

Yugi, growing bored and annoyed with the banter behind him, stared out the side window and wrinkled his nose.

"Hey, it's Kaiba's limo."

Instead of making Anzu stop preaching about eight hours of sleep, she took up grumbling about Kaiba instead. Right before Yugi snapped, Grampa parked and turned off the engine.

"Let's get something to eat before your blood sugar gets any lower, shall we?" He asked while propping open his door.

"Yeah, sure." Yugi muttered, sliding open his door.

Ryou and Honda were quick on his heels after him and Serenity, being the farthest from the door, urged Anzu out with a few light shoves. Finally free from the mini van, Serenity took a deep breath of night air and watched as a limo pulled into the parking lot. Not drawing any connection between the limo and Kaiba, she mused to herself how nice it would be to ride in a limo instead of the back of a van.

"Oh well," she sighed, turning and stretching before entering the restaurant.

"Seren, I'll order for you." Jou muttered, pulling whatever funds he had left out of his wallet.

"Umh…just takoyaki…"

"Okay. You can go sit with Yugi over there."

She frowned but did as she was told. Yugi barely gave her a glance before he let his head fall into his arms again.

"I think…I'm going to murder someone…with a deck of cards…" He trailed.

Serenity's laughter bubbled up and Yugi shifted in his seat.

"Wouldn't that get your cards all dirty? Why not use your trophy?"

He looked up, his eyes burning with inspiration.

"Yes! You're a genius! My trophy would kill a lot more people than my cards!"

"Uh, you don't plan on killing _me_ do you?"

Yugi's gaze shifted beyond her to the door.

"No, but I could kill him _and_ Anzu at the same time…"

Serenity turned in her seat to see the Kaiba brothers in the doorway. Seto looked extremely uncomfortable and suspicious, but Mokuba looked right at home. Serenity stared between Yugi and Seto cautiously.

"It's a good thing you left the trophy in the car, then." She mumbled, goose bumps rising on her arms.

"Whatever. At least mine's bigger than his…"

Serenity's mind instantly fell into the gutter (which was a rare occasion) and all the blood rushed from her cheeks.

"Wh-what? How do you…?"

Yugi, seeming tremendously amused, grinned.

"Trophies, Serenity. My trophy is bigger than his."

Serenity didn't say a word, steaming in embarrassment.

What was worse was that Yugi knew exactly what she was thinking, which meant…his mind had gone to the gutter as well.

'_Of course, he _is_ the one attempting to murder people with a trophy…_'

Grampa, Jou, Honda, and Ryou came over with trays of food balanced precariously in their arms. Serenity caught Ryou's drink before it fell to the floor and he smiled appreciatively.

"Thanks, er…sorry about that…"

A whine interrupted her reply and nearly everyone in the restaurant turned to look at Mokuba Kaiba tugging on his brother's shirt sleeve.

"Nii-chan! You can't just wait until we get home!"

Seto, noticing the stares, muttered something to Mokuba that made the smaller boy pout.

"You're so stubborn! Poor Sae! She never gets a day off 'cause _you_ won't eat anything but _her_ cooking! What'll happen when she retires or dies in a freak kitchen fire!"

Yugi sniggered at the boy's imagination.

"Freak kitchen fire…that reminds me. Have you talked to Bakura at all this weekend?" Yugi asked.

Ryou blanched and fumbled for his cell phone.

"I forgot all about him! Ky distracted me every time I…er…forget I said that…"

Serenity giggled and took her takoyaki from Jou's tray.

"What she did in the lobby…is that normal for her?"

Ryou nodded, pulling his chopsticks out of their package.

"It is for me too. Of course, it's a little inappropriate and unpleasant to watch, but…'normal'. It freaked me out when I first came to Japan. No one was publicly displaying affection for each other. They didn't even hold hands…"

"Dating's against school rules, though, isn't it?" Yugi questioned, already halfway done with his food.

A sudden snort escaped Ryou as he searched through his phonebook on his cell phone for Bakura's number.

"Never stopped me before…ah! Mind if I call your house to make sure it's still in tact?"

Grampa shuddered and shoveled sushi into his mouth to take his mind off of his potentially destroyed shop.

"Go ahead…" Yugi trailed, watching his Grampa curiously.

Ryou pushed the little green button and waited for Bakura to pick up.

"This is the Mutou residence, Bakura speaking."

Serenity, being close enough to the phone to hear, sniggered.

"Hey, you're still alive."

"Of course I am. I'm immortal, smart one. When are you getting back?"

"In a few hours, if the traffic's good. You haven't, er, destroyed the kitchen, have you?"

Bakura was silent for a minute.

"I'm a failure, Ryou…a complete failure!"

Ryou's eyebrows peaked in surprise.

"Er…why?"

"I _burnt_ it!"

"You burnt _what_?" Ryou gasped.

"The…the…the noodles! I burnt the sodding noodles! I left them on the stove 'cause I heard the shop bell ring and I thought it was locked, but it was just a little kid, so I kicked him out and by the time I got back to the kitchen, the noodles were _burnt_ to a bloody _crisp_! It's all! That! Damn! Kid's! Fault!" Bakura yelled, sounding as if he were punching something with each word.

Ryou, eyes wide as if he'd just seen a ghost, turned his gaze to Serenity.

"Umh…wow." She whispered.

"Bakura, just because you burned the noodles doesn't mean—!"

"No. I'm giving up cooking. I couldn't…even…keep the…noodles!"

"No, no, really. Don't give up cooking! I've been eating well for the past week…"

"No," Bakura sniffed, "I'm through. I'll find another hobby."

"But…but you were such a natural at cooking! I mean, it's not exactly _normal_, but you were good! You really shouldn't give up just because of one mistake. Don't you think all those guys with the famous cooking shows burned the noodles every once in a while?"

He listened to Bakura sniffling for a bit, wondering if his words would have any effect. It wasn't like Bakura to get emotional over a lost hobby, but then again, he'd never lost a hobby before.

"You're right…hey, do the Mutou's own a cat?"

"Er…Yugi, do you own a cat?"

"No, but there's a stray who always comes around the back. Why?"

"Bakura, there's usually a stray cat near there. Why, what's wrong?"

"Well, I'm deathly allergic to cats…I can't stop sneezing and sniffing. And if it gets _really_ bad…well…then comes the swelling and the coughing…"

"Bakura…" Ryou murmured.

"Hmm?"

"Get _out_ of that house! I'm not having father pay for a medical bill!"

Bakura snorted, sneezed, and cleared his throat.

"And here I thought you cared. Fine. I'll go back to the apartment for tonight."

"Good."

"What's the stupid pharaoh doing letting a stray cat around here anyways?" Bakura grumbled, sniffling some more and hanging up on Ryou.

Ryou let his phone drop to the vinyl seat beneath him.

"Are you _sure_ I can't get rid of him with holy water? Or am I really going to have to resort to suicide?" He sighed, taking a self-sympathetic bite of his very vegetarian meal.

"Oh, please don't. I dunno what I'd do if you died."

Ryou's smile vanished after a few seconds.

"Promise me you'll come to my funeral?"

"Even if it's in England!"

"Good. So the day I finally snap…I can rest assured that someone will be at my funeral."

Serenity giggled and Anzu pulled up a chair to the side of the table.

"How long could it possibly take to make a nutritious, energy-sufficient meal? I've been waiting for—"

"Anzu! It's a _fast-food restaurant_! You know, grease, burgers, kitchen fires…?" Ryou asked.

Anzu blinked in confusion.

"What does that have to do with the two hours of sleep I'll be losing tonight?"

Ryou groaned and stuffed a piece of food into his mouth.

"You'll never survive in university…ever…"

* * *

Grampa pulled into his parking space back in Domino and chuckled when he saw all the teens asleep on each other. 

"Yugi, wake up. I need your help." He said, shaking Yugi's knee.

A sleepy grunt escaped Yugi as he shifted back to consciousness.

"We're home…?" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Uh-huh. Help me get the others awake."

After twenty minutes, they had everyone inside the living room behind the game shop and a few were even willing to help bring in the luggage. The rest had already crashed on the floor and the couch.

Grampa carried in Yugi's first place trophy and placed it in the shop just for show, but Yugi pulled it back down from its shelf and horded it away to his room before anyone could stop him.

Jou, realizing that everyone else was asleep, shook Serenity's shoulder until her eyes opened.

"What?" She hissed.

"I won't tell Dad."

She paused and her expression softened.

"Thanks…"

"But if you ever kiss any guy in front of me again—"

Serenity smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I know, Jou…relax. I won't ever do that again." She whispered, breaking into a yawn.

"Good. I only did what I did because I was trying to protect you…I didn't know if he'd changed or not, and I didn't want you getting mixed up with the wrong crowd, you know? I mean, he was pretty bad before…total jerk face, if you ask me…but if he's changed, then I guess it'll—it'll be okay."

Jou waited for Serenity to answer, but when she didn't, he looked down and found her fast asleep. A small smile curved his lips and he patted her hand affectionately.

"Good night, Seren…"

Ryou's cell phone woke them all up in the morning. Honda smacked Ryou's arm and rolled over. Bakura sniggered, watching them from the doorway with the house phone in his hand.

Ryou groaned and put his cell phone to his ear. In his semi-conscious state, he forgot to push the talk button and sat there mumbling into the speaker for a while until he realized his mistake. Bakura was nearly dying of laughter, but Ryou finally answered the phone correctly and Bakura sobered.

"'Llo?" He murmured.

Bakura put the house phone up to his mouth.

"Wake-up call, Ryou."

Ryou snapped his phone shut and sent Bakura a very nasty look.

"_You're_ here."

"Yeah. School starts in half an hour. Thought you should know. Breakfast?"

Ryou rolled his eyes and scrambled to his feet.

"Did you bring my uniform?"

Bakura snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Do I look like your slave? You're lucky I still cook for you."

"Great. I guess I'll tell them something happened to it…in a freak kitchen fire."

Bakura's eyebrow quirked up.

"Not a morning person, Ryou-chan?"

Ryou narrowed his eyes at him and headed for the stairs.

"Get the rest up. Make sure you freak out Anzu."

Serenity giggled and Bakura looked down at her.

"You were awake?"

"I'm a light sleeper."

"Oh…so…how did things go with Malik?"

She didn't answer, but her smile told him enough.

"Ah. I see. You wake them up. I'll make breakfast."

"Mmhmm…"

* * *

**Yay! It's done! Not really! But who cares? Haha, I had soo much more to put into this, but then I wouldn't be able to write the last chapter and the epilogue. :Smile:**

**Soo, next chapter will be relatively short…maybe. Depends on what I can fit into it. You see, I already have the epilogue written up and I just need to fill in the blanks. So don't expect too much for next chapter. Just a warning.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Malice Mizer, or The Dresden Dolls and their song 'Girl Anachronism' (listen to it!), nor do I own the burning of the noodles. That would be my best friend's. Also, I don't own that line about a non-verbal goodbye. That belongs to J.K. Rowling. And of course, I don't own YGO. But I own myself and the story line. And Kylie. I do claim ownership of Kylie. Okay, I'm done.**

**Anywho, since my website does NOT work, I'm going to give reviewer thanks, they just won't be personal. Basically, a list of names…'cause I'm thankful to all of you! And once I get my website working, you can find a more personal response. :)**

**So, to all my amazing reviewers:**

**You guys keep me going on this site. If not for you, I would have completely left and gone to fictionpress. But I'm here until the end!**

**My amazing reviewers are as follows:**

**Kelsey, Wicked Little Town (aka Unlaundered Plebian, lol), Landi McClellan, cheeky-eyes, TheWooze19, Mira Nova 23, The Dirty Hippy formerly known as TheElfChaser, and Cymoril Avalon.**

**Yes, those are ALL the names of those who have reviewed thus far. Thanks guys!**

**Review please!**


	8. Evening the Scores

**So, this should be the next to last chapter. Then I've got the last chapter and the epilogue to go. If I make it, this will be the first fic I've actually had the chance to complete on Fanfiction. How awesome is that? So, enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Evening the Scores**

"This is fantastic!" A tall, Australian man exclaimed.

Serenity, from her hiding spot behind a statue, beamed with pride. Her cheeks flushed as she heard the man continue on with a stream of compliments.

"Where is this young lady? I want to meet her."

Serenity cleared her throat and stepped out from behind the statue.

"Right here, sir. I'm Serenity."

The man smiled kindly at her and shook her hand.

"Dion McCarthy. I write for a fine arts magazine called 'Creations Count'."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. McCarthy."

Dion, his eyes bright with excitement, looked up at her artwork again in reverence.

"Serenity, I want to write an article on your work. Would that be all right?"

Serenity's vision clouded over suddenly and she forgot how to breathe.

"An…an article? On my work?" She gasped.

"Yes! For such a young person, this is truly amazing. At first I didn't believe Odom when she told me, but—"

"Dion, I asked for you to wait." Said a woman's voice from behind Dion.

Serenity giggled when Dion grimaced. He turned to face the woman and Serenity beamed when she saw it was Odom.

"Sensei!"

Odom offered her a small smile and put her hand on Dion's arm.

"Your excitement drives me insane, McCarthy."

"My apologies, Odom."

"Accepted. So? What do you think?"

"Well, I think she's extremely talented."

"And what about the artwork?"

"Beautiful. She sees the life in everything and brings it out—"

"So you want to write the article, yes?"

"Well, yes. You interrupted me when I was in the middle of telling her, Odom."

"Sorry."

"No worries. So, Serenity, I'll make an appointment with you for an interview and a photo sometime during the week. Here's my card. Just call the first number and tell my secretary who you are. She'll connect you through to me and we can figure out a time to meet. Sound okay?"

Serenity nodded eagerly.

"Yes, sir! Thank you so much! You too, Sensei."

Odom laughed.

"Why me? I'm only your sensei. You did this yourself, Serenity."

Serenity opened her mouth to respond, but Jou, Ryou, Bakura, Anzu, and Yugi came walking towards her from the entrance.

"Seren! There you are!" Jou called, pulling the others behind him in his rush to get to Serenity.

"Jou, guess—!"

"Wow."

Serenity followed his gaze to her most recent painting of the streets of Tokyo and blushed tremendously.

"Oh, umh…"

"Mr. McCarthy?" Ryou asked suddenly.

Dion looked at Ryou and blinked. Hard.

"Ryou 'Alabaster' Bakura? That you?"

Ryou grinned and shook hands with Dion.

"All right, McAustralia?"

"All right. You?"

"Eh…you remember the bird Krissy?"

"Oh, yeah! The one always going after your brother."

Bakura's eyebrows rose.

"Really? Must've never noticed her."

Dion rolled his eyes.

"I don't know how that's possible. But anyways, go on Ryou."

"Well, when I went home two weeks ago…"

"Ohh. Yeah, I should have warned you. Sorry about leaving you in the middle of Surrey, by the way. You know…duty calls."

"I know. I hope you got your refrigerator filled again."

Dion threw back his head and let out a deep, booming laugh.

"Alabaster, someday…you're going to have _your_ fridge cleaned out. When I'm a hobo."

The others, leaving Ryou and Dion to their inside jokes, turned back to Serenity and Odom.

"These are really good, Ren." Anzu commented, giving Serenity a one-armed hug.

"Thanks. Mr. McCarthy's going to write an article about them."

"Seriously?"

"Uh-huh! And I get the scholarship too!"

"Yes you do, to any college you get into. If you want, I have a list of schools all over the world that are the best in fine arts. I can bring it on Monday for you to look at."

"Oh, yes! That would be—!"

"Hey, where's the tree one? I thought you were going to put that one in, too." Anzu interjected, examining the five pieces carefully to make sure she hadn't skipped the tree one.

"Oh, I'm redoing it. It was only a pencil sketch, so I'm thinking of doing it in charcoal."

"Why not oil paints?" Odom suggested.

"I don't _have_ them."

"Oh, I do. I'll bring them with the list of schools, then. So, what _is_ the tree one?"

"The one she made for Malik." Anzu teased.

Odom quirked an eyebrow at Anzu.

"You mean that boy she drew for homework…?"

"Yup. That's the one."

"You met up with him?"

"And then some." Anzu answered.

"Anzu." Jou growled.

"Sorry, sorry…just trying to get her to call him."

"Anzu." Serenity sighed, rubbing her temple.

Anzu smiled innocently and took a few steps towards the statue Serenity had been hiding behind.

Dion broke through the circle of friends and shook Serenity's hand again.

"I have to go act like I'm considering other people for the article now. Have a nice night!"

"You too, Mr. McCarthy."

He smiled and left the group. Ryou stepped into the hole he'd made.

"So…celebration dinner? Burgers, maybe?" Yugi asked.

Ryou made a face and Serenity put her hand on his arm consolingly.

"I'm sure they have veggie burgers."

He brightened.

"Sure! When can we go?"

* * *

"Do it." 

"No, I don't—!"

"Do it!"

"What if it's three in the morning over there? Besides, I have to finish painting this—"

"He can wake up for you! And you can finish the mural _after_ you're done talking to him. Do it."

Serenity sighed in exasperation and snatched the phone out of Anzu's hand.

"Fine. But if I wake him up, you owe me."

"Done."

Serenity dialed in Malik's number from memory and put the phone up to her ear. Anzu grabbed it from her and put it on speaker.

"Not fair." Serenity hissed, pouting.

"Get over it."

They heard a click after two rings and instantly shut up.

"Hello?" A teenage girl asked from the other line.

"Uh, hi. Is Malik there?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll get him. He's messing around with his guitar right now."

"Oh…'kay…"

The girl called for Malik, her voice muffled. The girl and Malik called back and forth to each other a couple times in their native language and finally Malik picked up the phone.

"Hey, it's Malik." He said, his voice lower than normal.

"Hi, it's Serenity."

"Ooh, Malik! Who is she?" The girl from before asked, obviously still on the phone.

"Jess, put the damn phone down! I don't know why we pay you!"

Jess, the girl, giggled.

"Because I clean more than _you_ do. Ask your sister."

"Whatever. Hang up or I'll tell Isis you were out with what's-his-face again while she was out."

"Hmph. It's on, Ishtar."

"Bring it."

The phone clicked and Malik coughed lightly.

"Sorry. She's our hired help, but…well…"

"Oh. Umh…how's your brother?"

"He's better. The doctor said he'll be able to come home in a few weeks."

"That's great!"

"Yeah. Oh, Bakura called me and told me about the art museum. Congrats."

"Thanks! My sensei told me if I get another five pieces done in a month, I can have my own exhibition at the school's open house."

"Wow. A month, right?"

"Yeah. Right before summer to show the parents the best of the best."

"Maybe…oh, never mind. So what pieces are you going to do?"

"I'm in the middle of redoing the tree one in oil paints, then I'm thinking about a couple nature scenes."

"I have to see the tree one when it's done."

Serenity smiled.

"Okay. It's not going to be exact, since I don't have the original, but…"

"It's a tree with an iron gate around it. Of _course_ it's not going to look exact. Do you know how many friggin' trees there are out there with iron gates around them?"

She giggled.

"No, I don't know. How many?"

"There's a lot. But that's not the point. No matter _how_ you draw the tree and the gate, it'll still look amazing and it'll still mean a lot."

Anzu gave Serenity a look that clearly read 'awwwwwww'. Blood rushed to Serenity's cheeks.

"Thanks, Malik…"

Jess picked up the phone again.

"Mali, Isis is home. She wants to talk to you."

"Can you tell her to wait?"

"She's in one of her bitchy moods."

"Damn. Serenity, can I call you back?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be up late painting, so go ahead."

"Thanks. It shouldn't take long."

"Okay."

They exchanged their goodbyes and Malik hung up the phone. Anzu grabbed the phone and turned it off.

"How sweet was that? Oh my God, Serenity, I'm jealous."

"Uh-huh. C'mon, I've got to work on this."

Serenity pulled her paint pallet towards herself and picked up a thin paint brush.

"Anything I can do?"

"Uh, yeah. Can you put a second coat of paint on that wall?"

"Sure. Hey, Ren?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you sleeping every night?"

"The couch."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Nothing. Just wondering."

"Whatever…"

Serenity had just finished putting the second coat on Yugi's hair (on the mural, of course), when the phone rang. Anzu dropped her paintbrush, causing Serenity to cringe, and snatched up the phone.

"Hello, you've reached the Katsuya's residence." She chirped, searching for the speaker button.

She found the button right before Malik responded.

"Hey, it's Malik."

Anzu gave Serenity a warning look and Serenity rolled her eyes.

"Anzu, put him on speaker!" She said, playing along.

"Hold on, Malik. She's working on a mural."

"Really? How's it coming?"

"Umh, I'm almost done. It was just Yugi's hair I had problems with."

Malik chuckled.

"I could imagine."

"So, what was up with your sister?"

"Oh, jeez. I don't even want to _start_ on her. Ever since the accident, she's been—Jess, I swear, if you don't get off the phone, I'm firing you."

Jess, obviously eavesdropping, giggled.

"Sorry, Mali. I just think it's kind of funny."

"What is?" Serenity asked.

"Well, he called the police one time on this group of girls who were stalking him—"

"But we don't need to get into that. Don't you need to go clean out the guest rooms or something?"

"Why? No one's staying in them."

"Of course someone's staying in them, loser. Why d'you think Isis asked for them to be dusted?"

"Umh…'cause she's psycho?"

Malik snorted.

"Either that or you're mentally impaired."

"Ouch! You're on a roll tonight!"

"Whatever. The Bakuras are staying with us for a while."

"Oooh, the twins?"

"No, the bums down the street."

Jess sniggered.

"Malik two, Jess zero. All right, I'll leave you alone now."

"There _is_ a God…" Malik muttered.

Serenity and Anzu giggled and Jess whined.

"You're mean, Mali. You better watch out. You never know when I'll slip something in your bed."

"Hence why I got a lock installed…"

Jess huffed and hung up the phone. Anzu and Serenity burst out laughing.

"Wow. That was great." Serenity stated.

"Yeah, even better than the hair comment he made when he met you."

"Oh, yeah."

Malik didn't answer for a moment.

"You know…I think I'm being attacked here."

"No! You're being made fun of! There's a difference."

"_Right_."

"So Ryou and Bakura are staying with you?"

"Yup. Mr. Bakura wouldn't help them pay for the stuff Bakura destroyed, so they're being evicted as soon as the school year ends. I told them they could live with us while they find a new place to live."

Anzu and Serenity looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Oh my God. I had no idea."

"Yeah. Not many people know what's up between Ryou and his dad. I'm the only one he's told about the eviction."

"Is he going to live in Egypt after this?" Serenity asked, horrorstricken.

Malik laughed.

"Of course not! He hates it here! No, what he's doing in liquidating his college funds and buying a condo. He just needs to be in a country where he's a legal adult."

"Oh. Thank God. I was about to say, if Ryou moved away…" Anzu trailed.

"I know! After he was so awesome last weekend? I wanna keep him around for a while!"

"He was awesome last weekend?" Malik questioned.

"He's the only reason I got away from Jou."

"Oh. All right then, he _is_ awesome."

"Because he danced in the middle of a restaurant." Serenity said.

"Yeah, well, so did the cross-dresser."

"But the cross-dresser wasn't _half_ as good as Ryou."

Anzu gave her a strange look and Serenity giggled.

"The cross-dresser didn't have a neon yellow skirt either."

"So that makes _me_ awesome, too?"

"Basically."

Serenity smiled to herself and set down her paint pallet.

"Well, you're awesome 'cause…umh…"

Malik chuckled.

"I'll give you a while to think about it."

She blushed.

"No, you're awesome 'cause you protect trees. And wildlife."

Malik sighed.

"I told you, it's not a humanitarian cause. It's just me."

"Uh-huh."

"Serenity!" He whined.

Anzu's eyebrows shot up.

"Did you really just make Malik Ishtar _whine_?"

Serenity flashed an uncharacteristic smirk at her.

"Maybe."

She stepped back from the mural and studied every inch of it.

"Hey, what happens in this conversation _stays_ in this conversation." Malik mumbled.

"Done!" Serenity declared proudly, smiling at her wall and ignoring Malik.

"Huh?"

"Wow. Looks good, Ren!"

"What does?" Malik asked, confused.

"Her mural."

"Oh. You finished it?"

"Yup. Just now."

"What's it look like?"

"Well, it's Yugi, Anzu, Jou, Honda, Ryou, and me sitting around a tree with Duel Monster cards scattered around, and we're surrounded by an iron gate."

"Wow. Must have taken you a while."

"Almost three weeks."

Malik whistled.

"Better than anything _I_ could do."

"Probably."

Anzu laughed.

"Nice one!"

"Thanks."

"I'm gonna ignore that…"

"You set yourself up for it." Anzu replied.

"I know." He sighed.

"I could take a picture and have Ryou send it to you." Serenity offered, cleaning up her paintbrushes and paint.

"Uh, that's okay. It would ruin the effect. So, umh, this open house thing. When is it?"

"June twelfth."

"Okay."

"Why?"

"No reason. Hey, I gotta go. Isis is bitching downstairs."

"Okay. See you later."

"Yup. Bye."

"Bye, Malik." Anzu chirped.

Malik chuckled to himself.

"Bye, Anzu."

Anzu ended the connection with a push of a button and looked at Serenity seriously.

"When's the wedding? 'Cause I better be your maid of honor."

Serenity gave her a flat look.

"Help me clean this up, will you?"

"Don't avoid the question!"

"Anzu, we're not getting married. I'm sixteen."

"That's old enough!"

Serenity stared at her in disbelief.

"You're out of your mind. Go take this to the kitchen and wash it out."

Anzu scrunched up her nose, but took the paint tray from Serenity and left the room. Serenity hastily picked up her paint pallet and painted in two lavender eyes on the gate. She heard the water in the kitchen turn off and put her pallet back down, acting as if she'd been cleaning the entire time.

Anzu came back in with the cleaned paint tray and watched Serenity quizzically.

"What're you smiling about?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing…"

* * *

Serenity stared at the letter of acceptance in awe. 

"Jou!" She called.

He came into her room looking concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Look! I just got this from the school today!"

He took the letter from her and skimmed through it, his jaw lowering further and further with each line.

"Holy crap, Seren! This is great!"

"I know! They want me to get another two pieces in, too!"

Jou pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm proud of ya, sis."

"Even though this all started with Malik?"

Jou was quiet for a moment.

"Yeah. Even though this all started with Malik."

She beamed pulled away from the hug to take her letter back.

"I have to tell Sensei Odom! I wonder if she'll let me borrow her pastels again…?"

Jou watched her scurry about for her planner and her sketchbook with vivacious excitement. A small smile formed on his lips and he left the room silently, leaving her to plan for the open house. Heavens knew what would happen if he got in her way.

* * *

**One more chapter and then the epilogue! Yay! Oh, and I lied about this chapter. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting to write all that dialogue…so, sorry if it was confusing or time-wasting.**

**In the next chapter, you can look forward to seeing what happens at the open house. I think most of you probably know by now. I tried to make it obvious. :) And I promise it'll be hell of a lot shorter than this chapter.**

**Anywho, thanks to my reviewers! I love you all!**

**Please read and review!**


	9. Embracing Fear

**Here it is folks! Chapter the Last!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own YGO, or the brilliant lyrics used down below.**

**Chapter 9: Embracing Fear**

Serenity beamed as a parent questioned her about her artwork. She answered him to the best of her abilities and told him all about the art classes and how fantastic Sensei Odom was and so on. Soon, she had a small crowd of parents around her, asking her questions and commenting on her work.

"Actually, a couple months ago, I couldn't have done this at all. I've realized since then that there is more to art than just lines and colors on a paper. Art is about letting go. It's the emotions we're afraid to feel." Serenity said quietly, making everyone lean forward to hear her.

A stunned silence followed her statement, and then, slowly, they began glancing around at each other. Murmurs of agreement waved through the group like sand shifting with the tide.

"I learned that the hard way. My sensei always told me to let go and just my hand do everything. I never understood until…until I had to. _I_ didn't create these things. They already existed. I just slowed down and copied them onto paper."

"But doesn't it take some kind of talent to copy them? Not everyone can just slow down and copy something." A parent said, the words sounding foreign to his tongue and his accent strange.

Serenity picked him out of the crowd and frowned slightly, recognizing the shape of his face and his soft brown eyes.

"Maybe they're not trying…" She trailed, meeting his gaze.

"So all those people who go to art museums simply to enjoy the art—they're not trying?"

"They're slowing down and enjoying, but they're enjoying it in all the wrong places. Sometimes you have to step out to see the beauty around you. Sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone."

"So you're saying everyone who doesn't step out is a coward?"

"No, I—!"

Ryou stepped up beside the man and tugged on his sleeve.

"Father, leave her alone." He murmured, avoiding eye contact.

"No, Ryou, it's okay. I'll answer his questions." Serenity said calmly.

Ryou bit his lip.

"Serenity, less than a year ago, you were nearly blind. I don't think they realize that. That's why _he_ doesn't understand. And you can call him a coward to his face. I've already done it."

Serenity's eyebrows shot up in surprise, her gaze sliding to Mr. Bakura's face. His eyes were a bit glassy and his tanned cheeks were pink.

"You were _blind_?" A mother from nearby questioned.

"Umh…yes. Nearly. Look, Mr. Bakura. I'm not calling anyone a coward. It took me fifteen years to step out, and when I did, I was surrounded by my friends. I didn't _want_ to step out. But I knew if I ever wanted to do something more with my art, I _had_ to. I had to get over my fear. I'm still a coward, Mr. Bakura. But at least I can look back and say I did something that not many can do. And I owe it all to my friends."

Mr. Bakura nodded, satisfied with her reply. He turned away to look elsewhere in the open house. Ryou smiled at Serenity and moved through the crowd to hug her.

"Nice answer, Ren."

"Thanks, Ry."

He grinned and left to follow his father before he ripped apart another student.

Serenity continued answering questions about her pieces until Sensei Odom came over to her and pulled her away.

"What's wrong, Sensei?"

"Oh, the other parents were complaining about their children not getting any attention. Apparently you were working the crowd too well."

Serenity blushed profusely.

"Sorry."

Odom snorted.

"Don't be. You were amazing. I heard your answer to that one man. I liked it."

"Oh…thank you."

"Don't be modest, Serenity. You've earned it. Oh, yeah, I also wanted to give you something. I got this in the mail yesterday from McCarthy."

Odom handed her the 'Creations Count' magazine and opened it to the earmarked page. Serenity stopped breathing entirely when she saw her face smiling up at her, her name italicized underneath. Numbly, she looked at the article beside her picture and read through it, her heart pounding with inexplicable excitement.

"So? What's it like to see your name printed?" Odom asked, winking at her.

Serenity smiled breathlessly.

"This is amazing…! I never thought…I mean, this…here…and my picture…"

Odom laughed and put her hand on Serenity's shoulder.

"Like I said, you've earned this. You've worked hard and you've overcome a lot of things. Be happy. Be proud. Get an ego like your brother, if you must."

Serenity giggled.

"Are you sure about the ego?"

"I said if you _must_. Trust me, you don't _have_ to."

Serenity bit her lip, then smiled at Odom.

"I really do owe a lot to you, Sensei. I couldn't talk to anyone, and then…then you asked me to talk, and I did. Ever since, I've been able to let go and get into my work. I know you don't think I should thank you, but I have to. You made this all possible. Thank you."

Odom's smile softened and tears welled up in her eyes.

"You're welcome, Serenity."

A warm hand descended on Serenity's arm suddenly.

"Excuse me; do you know where I can find a certain painting of a tree in here? The most amazing girl drew it for me a month or so ago…"

Serenity gasped and looked up at Malik in complete shock. Odom's eyebrows rose in interest.

"_This_ is the boy you drew? My god, no wonder."

Serenity's cheeks burned and she looked down at the ground. Malik chuckled and lifted her chin.

"So? Where's my tree?"

"Why? Is the gate missing its tree?" She asked, grinning to herself.

"More than you know."

Odom cursed her hormones when she nearly burst into tears. She silently excused herself from their presence and walked away to a more secluded corner. She'd seen the look in Serenity's eyes when Malik had smiled at her. There was somehow more life and sparkle in her gaze.

Odom watched Malik pull Serenity out of the building by the hand and smiled to herself.

Ryou met Serenity and Malik at the door and smirked.

"I got you covered."

"Thanks, man."

Malik pulled her outside and around the corner of the gym. They stared at each other for a moment with nothing to say except…

"Hi."

"Hi."

And then another silence fell upon them while Serenity tried to make her mind work properly so she could figure out what to say.

"So, you flew all the way from Egypt to see me?"

He nodded.

"Yup."

"Why?"

He smiled.

"'Cause you're worth it."

"Oh. Well then."

Malik laughed softly to himself and looked up at the cloudy night sky.

"You know, I had hours to think of what to say to you when I got to this point, and I had the perfect sappy little speech…but…I can't remember it for the life of me now. So, I'm just gonna run with something and go with it. If it comes out wrong, I'm sorry."

She grinned and shook her head.

"Just say it."

"Okay…"

He took a deep breath and looked up at the clouds again.

"Wait, I have to do something first, or else I won't be able to do this at all."

"Hmm?"

He leaned down and captured her lips, finishing what he'd started. Serenity's mind suddenly started functioning again and it automatically told her to stop being a robot and _kiss him back_. She smiled and fell into the kiss head first. They pulled apart a few moments later, Serenity breathing heavily and Malik more nervous than he was beforehand.

"I had to get that off my chest. Last time your brother was about to kill me, so I…I kinda left in a hurry…before I could…you know. Anyways, umh…what I was going to say…I…I haven't been able to stop…thinking about you. And I know that's crazy, 'cause I barely know you, but ever since I first kissed you, you've been all over. I dream about you and I can hear you laughing in my head, and I can see your smile every time I look at a tree, and…and…I'm beginning to worry for my health, 'cause I think I'm obsessed—I mean, for Re's sake, I flew from Egypt to Japan just to see and tell you this. And I think I'm going insane because I don't have you."

She stared at him in wonder and amusement.

"You're right. I'm sure the speech you had planned out sounded a lot better than that one."

He fought a smile and looked down at their intertwined fingers.

"Can I try again?"

"Sure."

"Serenity…I'm going crazy over you, and I _like_ it. I've never felt like this before. Like I want to be near you, but I don't because I don't know what I'll do. I'm scared of screwing up around you, and I've never…I've never been scared of other people's opinions before you came along. But your opinion matters because…_you_ matter. Am I making any sense? 'Cause if I'm not, you can stop me at any time, and—"

Laughter bubbled from her lips and she hugged him tightly.

"You can stop now. I get the point."

"So…umh…do you feel…the same?"

"Well, from what I got out of your speeches, I _think _I feel the same way. I'm not sure, though. You were a little hard to follow at times…" She teased, smiling playfully.

He rolled his eyes and leaned towards her, stopping a breath away from her lips.

"Just say yes."

"Do I have to nod, too?" She whispered.

"No. I have you right where I want you."

She smiled, feeling his warm breath wash over her.

"Yes."

Before he could kiss her again, loud voices interrupted them.

"God damn it, Bakura, let me through!" Jou's voice rang.

Malik's eyes widened and he pulled back from Serenity.

"Leave them alone, Jou!"

"Uh-oh."

Serenity sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Follow me."

He yelped in shock when she dragged him away with surprising force. She giggled and shushed him, pulling him past the locker rooms and through the parking lot to the sidewalk. He looked back warily towards the gymnasium where Jou's and Ryou's voices were only faint murmurs carried by the wind.

Serenity tugged on his hand again.

"Where are you taking me?"

She smiled.

"My mural. I thought you might want to see it."

He grinned and followed her through the streets, wishing that the tingles he felt in his stomach would never go away, and that the electric jolt he felt whenever she squeezed his hand would never happen with anyone else.

**It's done! Wow! I feel so complete:) Just the epilogue to go (just to tie up any loose ends), and then I'm done! Yay!!**

**Also, I know the ending was pretty lame, but I'll clear everything up in the epilogue. Kudos to D. D. Warrior Lady, the first reviewer for last chapter and the first to guess that Malik would show up! Even though I made it completely obvious, haha.**

**Love you all!!**

**CFB**

**P.S. In the next chapter, there will be a song that someone is singing. Whoever can tell me the band that sings it and the name of the song gets the epilogue dedicated to them (and maybe Christmas cookies)! Here are the lyrics:**

"**I'm following myself just this once. And I've got spun; it appears you're spun as well. It happens when you pay attention. This could take all year…but, when it's quiet, does she hear me? Jettisoned to the center of the storm. And I'm thinking I'd prefer not to be rescued. Oh, I can hear her. She's dying just to keep me cool. And I'm finally numb, so please don't get me rescued."**

**Hints: The band is from my hometown. The lead singer used to be in Something Corporate. They're touring with Panic! At the Disco (whose concert I will, regrettably, be missing on Saturday).**

**There may be more lyrics in the epilogue…it depends. Those lyrics up there are just the main part of the song to help ya'll out. :)**

**Happy hunting!**


	10. Epilogue

**Congratulations, Wicked Little Town! Haha, you were the only one to guess what the song was and you, somehow, knew it immediately. O.o I swear I've never sung it in front of you…or maybe I have. I had Jack's Mannequin on the brain for a few weeks…**

**Anywho, the epilogue is dedicated to you! Teehee, that rhymed :)**

**(Last!) Disclaimer: I don't own YGO, or Jack's Mannequin. However, Jack's Mannequin and Andrew McMahon pwn you all :)**

**Enjoy!**

**Epilogue:**

Yugi stepped into the apartment warily. Immediately his senses were bombarded from all sides. Succulent smells wafting from the kitchen, piano playing drifting from the living room, a warm breeze blowing through the window, and giggling sounding from the living room.

"Bakura?" Yugi called.

"Out here!" Bakura and Ryou chorused.

"Shut up, Bakura, he meant _me_!"

"You realize I'm handling your food, right?"

"Sod off!"

Yugi rolled his eyes, accustomed to their bickering, and headed into the living room. He first spotted Ryou at the piano, his fingers deftly moving across the keys. Then he found the source of the giggles: Serenity. With Malik's arm around her, no less.

Serenity and Malik glanced back at him and Malik muttered something that made Serenity lapse into another fit of giggles.

"Hey, Midget Pharaoh—!" Bakura started.

"Dwarf. The politically correct term is dwarf."

Bakura stared at him flatly.

"Since when have _I_ been politically correct?"

Yugi shrugged and wandered into the kitchen with him to see what he was making.

"What'd you want?"

"Nothing. Just thought I'd spare you from the gag fest out there. I haven't seen Malik so…pathetic in a long time."

"Pathetic?" Yugi questioned incredulously, one eyebrow cocked.

"C'mon, Mutou, even _you_ can see it. He's a completely different person around her."

"Who? Serenity?"

"No, your mom." Bakura retorted sarcastically.

"Sheesh. Don't have to bite my head off…"

"Anyways, they've been all cutesy and cuddly on the couch all day, so I escaped to the kitchen. Wanna be my taste-tester?"

"Hey, even _dwarf_ pharaoh's need their food tested for poison first…count me out."

"Yugi! Come out here! Ryou's gonna sing for us!" Serenity chirped.

Yugi waved at Bakura cheerily and went back out to the living room. Serenity and Ryou were glaring at each other half-heartedly.

"Since when was I going to sing—?"

"Since Kylie told me you're a wonderful singer."

"But I already played piano for you, can't I just—?"

"Nope!" Serenity chimed, smiling impishly.

Ryou gave her a dirty look and turned back around on the piano bench. He pulled out a book of sheet music from on top of the piano and set it up on the built in music stand.

"Fine. But I get to choose the song."

Yugi looked over his shoulder at the music. To him, it was a bunch of lines and symbols that made no sense whatsoever. But he could still read the title and the lyrics.

"'Rescued'? Who wrote this song?"

"Oh, it's a band called Jack's Mannequin. I listened to this song nonstop after…well, anyways…"

He pressed down on the right piano keys and began weaving the notes together. He'd always had a problem with stage fright, but, he figured, to hell with it.

"Two to one. Static to the sound of you and I. I'm done for the last time…"

Serenity was instantly sucked into the music. Kylie had spoken the truth. The boy could sing, and he could sing damn well. She concentrated on the lyrics, realizing why he'd chosen that particular one to listen to. She'd guessed he'd been talking about his break up with Krissy, the girl whose picture he kept in his wallet.

"And I've got spun. It appears you're spun as well…"

Malik, unlike Serenity, had heard the song before. After all, being best friends with Bakura connected him to Ryou as well.

"Oh, I can feel her; she's dying just to keep me cool. I'm finally numb, so please don't get me rescued…"

Ryou played a little musical interlude and sang again, his voice rising gradually as he forgot about the others in the room with him. It was just him and his piano.

"Oh, say you'll miss me one last time, I'll be strong, but whatever you do, please don't get me rescued. 'Cause I'm feeling like I might need to be near you. And I feel all right, so please don't get me rescued..."

He ended the song there and silence fell upon the room.

But silence doesn't last forever…

_BANG._

"Shit! Where the hell is the fire extinguisher?"

::OWARI::

**XD! Haha, sorry, I had to end this on a funny note! Poor Bakura, always setting the kitchen on fire. But that's why we love him, right? Anyways, that is the END! WHOOT! I think I need to throw a celebration party:)**

**Soo, my first fic ever completed. I feel accomplished! But it's all because of my fantastic reviewers and readers that I was able to make it through! So, I'm leaving it up to you guys as to whether I should do a sequel! If you want a sequel, please tell me in a review, and give me any ideas you have for it! I'd be happy to oblige :)**

**Thanks for sticking with me guys! You're hellagdamazing!**

**Love, CFB**


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